Breaching Normality
by thekyuubivixen
Summary: While Shadow knew that things wouldn't go back to the way they were before the doubles crash-landed into his reality, he believed that a new normal could be achieved. However...no one could've imagined the devastating storm a simple empty grave would brew. Rated T for language and violence. Third installment of the Alternate Reality series.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **A/N: Welcome back, amazing readers! After a little (long) break, it's time to hop back onto this non-stop train ride! I'm sorry that it's been a** _ **good**_ **handful of months since Reality Breach finished, but I've been working on other stories and life got in the way and just blah… This is the best time to get this rolling again!**

 **So, if you're new here, I strongly encourage you to hit that back button and check out Alternate Reality and Reality Breach first. This story, Breaching Normality, is the third installment of the series. If you don't want to get lost and spoil yourself (most of the spoilers are** _ **literally**_ **in this first chapter), go check out those other two first!  
**

 **Warnings: Alright, if you've gotten this far down the page, then I assume that you already know about the violence that may get bloody and about the harsh language some characters will resort to.**

 **And last thing before we start, I want to shout-out the amazing 18204 with helping me out on this chapter by beta reading it!**

 **Chapter 1 – Good Morning**

It was a quiet and peaceful morning, the early sun's rays chasing the moon away and lighting up the skies.

Inside a particular home, it was just as silent, the occupants sleeping soundly. This was the first morning in a while that they didn't have to worry about any lurking dangers, so they rested peacefully until the sun had risen at such an angle that its rays filtered into one of the rooms, warming a certain hero's face.

A breathy sigh escaped the purple chameleon's lips as he was roused from his deep slumber. An eyelid fluttered open, its owner almost blinded by nature's alarm clock. After a moment of drowsy stillness, Espio sat up in his bed, the covers pooling down over his waist. He yawned and rubbed his eye, almost doing the same where his other one would've been. He caught himself, however, dropping his left hand back down.

He didn't dwell on his handicap because while he had lost a crucial body part, he could still see. He hadn't completely lost the sense, unlike someone else in the household. His problem was nothing compared to hers.

Espio threw his legs over the side of his bed and stood. He slipped on his gloves, socks, and shoes and stared at the loose bandages on his nightstand. With a heavy exhale, he wrapped them around the left side of his face before exiting his room.

His footsteps were near silent as he passed by Vector's and Charmy's rooms. He didn't feel the need to wake them yet, as they still had plenty of time before the lesson.

It wasn't long before Espio reached the kitchen. Instead of fixing cereal for himself like he had planned to, the chameleon crept to the other side and peeked out into the living room. Silver was softly snoring on the couch, curled up with no hint of waking any time soon.

An amber orb then drifted over to the blow-up mattress in the middle of the floor. TT and Rosy were sleeping just as soundly, like everything was perfect. But in reality…

He knew he should stop thinking like that. There was peace now. They had _won_.

Never mind the cereal, he was going to cook pancakes for everyone. That would be the first step in brightening his mood at least a bit.

Espio gathered the necessary materials and ingredients, wondering how long it would take Charmy to burst in once the familiar aroma filled the house. He went through the process with thoughts of an ecstatic bee and a drooling crocodile. It had been a while since their last pancake breakfast.

He was busy mixing the batter when a voice interrupted his musings.

"Good morning, Espio."

The chameleon paused in his stirring at the hushed greeting. He peered over his shoulder at the one who addressed him, his light thoughts turning dark. He hoped it didn't show in his expression.

Espio nodded at Rosy, who was stifling a yawn and giving him a brief wave. "Good morning." He returned the greeting out of habit even though she had stopped looking at him. The pink-furred hedgehog seemed well rested and calm. It was a stark contrast to yesterday. She had been a wreck after the news drop, and her fits had continued well into the night. More gloomy thoughts showed their ugly heads as he stared, and Rosy noticed the shift in the atmosphere.

She paused in her journey to the kitchen table, feeling the other's gaze on her. It wouldn't have bothered her if she didn't know _exactly_ what he was thinking. Rosy turned towards him, and Espio's sole eye widened in slight surprise. It was still there on his face – the look of _she's permanently damaged, she will never be the same._ She didn't need that, especially while she was trying her hardest to hold herself together. The silence was working to tear her apart.

" _Please_ don't look at me like that," she hoped she said. With how Espio seemed subtly contrite, she knew she succeeded. "This is my life now… and I don't want to be… constantly reminded, okay? I already know I'm d-deaf, I don't need everyone else telling me too."

Rosy took a deep breath as she finished, waiting for Espio to respond. A small smile adorned her muzzle when the chameleon eventually nodded, his expression warm and void of anything she didn't want. "I understand," she read from his lips. Espio then gestured to his mixing bowl. "I hope you don't mind pancakes."

She shook her head, her smile growing as she felt her stomach rumble. "I don't." An idea popped in her mind, and she approached Espio. She pointed to the bowl. "Let me cook. It's the least I could do since you're letting us stay here." When the chameleon hesitated, she continued. "I make the best pancakes. Tails can vouch for me!"

Espio still didn't hand the goods over. Rosy sighed. "Look Espio, I'm… deaf, not blind. I can handle it, promise." She wanted to keep busy, to distract herself.

Espio didn't really have a choice now. He didn't want to offend her, and, well… if she took over, it was less likely that the cakes would be on the too-crispy side.

He gave her the bowl and spoon. "They better be the best I've ever had," he gently teased.

Rosy grinned. "You can count on it."

Since he had relinquished his duty, Espio claimed a seat at the table. As soon as he did so, Silver wandered into the kitchen, stretching his arms over his head.

The psychic spotted Espio first and smiled. "Morning!"

The chameleon nodded in response. Silver's smile waned marginally at the sight of Rosy mixing by the stove. As expected, she showed no indication that she knew Silver was there.

The white hedgie didn't have a chance to feel bad for Rosy in her current condition. "Don't look at her like that," Espio whispered, and Silver raised a brow at him. "She says it's a reminder…"

Silver nodded when he understood. She didn't want any more things to change. "Okay." He raked his fingers through his quills, fixing the ones sticking out wildly. "It has to be hard for her, though… I can't imagine how she feels. We've all been through some rough stuff, but she…" Silver glanced over at Rosy before his worried gaze lingered on Espio. "…and you have been through more…" While he and Blaze had seen haunting things, all of the others had had a worse time overall.

Espio prevented himself from touching the left side of his face. "Life isn't the fairest, but we'll make do." He then bobbed his head in the direction of the pinkette. "Go say hi."

Silver had already been on the way over. He hesitated a bit when he was behind her, not exactly knowing how to greet her without scaring her. A simple tap on the shoulder wouldn't, right?

Well, he was wrong.

As soon as he touched her, Rosy jumped and lost her grip on the bowl with a gasp. Before the batter could splatter all over the floor, the bowl and its contents were surrounded by a cyan aura. Silver meekly returned it to the pinkette's hands.

"Sorry, sorry!" Silver apologized. "I should've gotten your attention another way!"

After calming down her rapidly beating heart, Rosy giggled. "It's fine! Shouldn't have been that jumpy, I guess." Silver still looked remorseful, and she couldn't help but think that Grey would be the complete opposite, laughing it off with her. Rosy rolled her eyes. "It's all good. No harm done!"

Silver relaxed at that, giving her a smile. "Okay, so what I had _wanted_ to say was 'good morning'." The pinkette chuckled, resuming her job. Silver watched her mess with the knobs on the stove, the urge to assist kicking in. "Do you need any help?"

She refocused on him and frowned at the expectant look he was giving her. He'd asked a question…

Rosy shakily swallowed. "Did… you say something?"

Silver wanted to hit himself. Of course she didn't know; she hadn't been _looking_ at him! "I was just wondering if you wanted any help."

Rosy shook her head and jabbed her finger over her shoulder. "Go take a seat next to Espio."

Silver started to oppose. "But-"

"There's no p-point arguing." Silver's ears perked and he looked over to see a yawning fox shuffling into the room. Blue eyes switched from the psychic to the pinkette, who had turned when Silver did. She seemed a lot better. Last night was just her time to let everything out. He knew that there would be some low days, but he would be there for her. More than he had been.

TT settled into the seat beside Espio after giving the chameleon a genial wave. He hugged his namesakes and got comfortable, still a bit tired. He had woken up to voices, and he had to make sure the mood stayed light for Rosy's sake. "S-She gets territorial with her pancakes. She never let me near her either." And that wouldn't change, no matter what state she was in.

"If she won't let you help, then I have no chance, huh?" Silver said jokingly.

"Nope!" Rosy chirped, watching Silver take the chair on the other side of an amused Espio. "You all sit back and let the master perfect her work." She giggled before pouring the batter into a hot pan, a savory sizzle filling the air.

Silver focused on her as the appetizing scent hit his nose. "She's strong." He could see hints of Blaze in her; and, of course, Amy.

TT dug his chin into the fur of his tails, hiding how sad his smile had become. "She's b-been like that ever since I've met her. Strong for herself… strong for m-me…"

Espio hummed in affirmation. This affected the kit as much as it affected Rosy. "She's lucky to have you by her side, and vice versa. Especially now."

TT wordlessly nodded.

"Do I smell… _pancakes!?_ "

There was suddenly a yellow and black blur whirling around in the kitchen. Rosy sensed an erratic and overly-hyper presence around her. After flipping over a pancake, she glanced behind her to watch Charmy tornado about the place before his leg was grabbed by a slightly exasperated Espio.

"Yes," the chameleon needlessly answered the kid's question. "You do smell pancakes."

It didn't seem like the bee had just woken up with the way his eyes were sparkling in excitement. Charmy wiggled out of Espio's grasp, a snickering Silver and TT watching when he zipped over to Rosy.

Charmy was hovering over her shoulder, talking a mile a minute. "Thank you _so_ much for making pancakes for us! They smell really really good and actually better than Espio's! Don't burn them like he does!"

Rosy tried to keep up, but she only gleaned small fragments of what he said. Though 'thank you', 'better than Espio's', and 'don't burn them' painted a pretty clear picture. She smiled, hoping no one noticed how her lips twitched. "Don't worry! They'll be good! You just have to be patient, okay? I have to feed a lot of mouths!"

Charmy, who was wondering if he had been talking too fast – Rosy's deafness pushing to the front of his brain _after_ he spouted out word after word – nodded with a relieved smile. "Okay!" The bee sat down at the table by Silver, his short legs happily kicking back and forth.

Espio traced the grain of the wood with a finger, feeling a bit put out. "I didn't burn the pancakes, Charmy."

The bee nudged Silver before whispering loudly. "Do _you_ ever eat pancakes with black stuff on 'em?" Silver sent the chameleon an apologetic yet mirth-filled look that the other didn't appreciate.

Espio sighed. "I can't wait until you make your first batch. I wonder what those will taste like."

"Yes, you can, because I _don't_ want this place burned down just yet." Those were Vector's first words as he joined the others in the kitchen, the aroma of pancakes having roused him as well. "Mornin' everyone!" The rest of the group echoed his powerful greeting. Rosy got to join in as well because of the croc's heavy footsteps.

Vector glanced at the working pinkette before narrowing his eyes at the others. "Now WHY is she slaving over a hot stove while all of you are just sitting here watching?"

"I tried to help!" Silver defended himself. "She said that she didn't want it."

Vector huffed. He couldn't believe that Espio would let a guest prepare breakfast when it was the host's job to do so. "She was just being polite and hiding the fact that she needs help!" Before TT could argue the croc's claim, Vector had aimed a smile over at Rosy, who was glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "You shouldn't be doing this, Rosy! Let me-"

"Sit," the pinkette stated firmly, bobbing her head toward the nearly full table. When Vector opened his mouth to refute, she held up the hot spatula. "Don't make me use this." The only hint that she wasn't totally serious was the subtle upturn of her lips.

Even so, Vector didn't chance it. "Alright, alright." He held his hands up before plopping down beside Charmy. He then looked at her back. "But this is the first and last meal you're making!" She didn't respond, having returned to the pan once he walked away. The croc frowned – the reminder that they had to adjust to Rosy hitting him in the face – before grumbling to himself about how it wasn't even _her_ food she was cooking and that it was the Chaotix's property, so _they –_ sans Charmy – should be the ones in control of the meals.

Espio was entertained about Vector's mumbling, but he was also impressed. His two friends hadn't dwelled on Rosy's condition. And by the soft smile he could see on the pinkette's muzzle, she was glad too.

The occupants of the table made light conversation, in which Silver told Vector 'I told you so' at least twice, until breakfast was served.

When Espio took his first bite, he had to admit that Rosy had him beat.

Charmy was chowing down like it was his last meal. "This is so good!" Bits of chewed pancake flew out of his mouth. Everyone had to cover their plates so their food wouldn't get tainted. "You're the best chef _ever_ ,Rosy!"

The female hedgehog blushed as she swallowed some fluffy goodness. It was a bit harder to understand the kid, but again, she caught the gist of what he said. The whole table shared the bee's opinion. "I'm not the best, but thanks!"

Most of the others went back to digging in while TT gently nudged his sister, who had taken the seat next to him. When they locked gazes, the fox mouthed, "How are you feeling?"

Many emotions swirled in those jade orbs of hers. Muted sadness settled, and yet she confidently nodded with the ghost of a smile. She returned to her pancakes, and the fox did the same. He understood. It was going to take a while to get used to the silence. Hopefully the lessons would speed up the process.

Heads jumped up when knocking echoed through the air. Rosy blinked in surprise at the simultaneous movement.

"I got it!" Vector volunteered, hopping out of his seat. He then pointed to the perplexed pinkette. "It's _my_ door, so you stay glued to your chair!"

"Yeah, yeah." Rosy waved him off, though she was glad he had said that. Now she knew what was going on. "Go get it."

Vector puffed before marching out of the kitchen and into the living room. He maneuvered around the blow-up mattress as he approached the front door. Turning the knob and opening it, Vector expected a blue hedgehog who had decided to come early, not another bubblegum-quilled hedgehog and a second bleached psychic.

"Hi, Vector!" Amy beamed while she fixed any ruffles in her dress. Grey had opened his mouth to chime in, but something else had caught his attention. Now he was peering around the reptile, golden irises snapping back and forth.

"Hey, you two!" Vector happily greeted back before raising a brow at Grey and then Amy. "So he was your ride, huh?"

"Luckily!" Amy nodded. "I was actually going to walk, but then I ran into him."

"And I couldn't just go on without…" Grey trailed off, distracted, before asking, "Do I smell pancakes?"

"Ye-"

Grey squeezed through the narrow space between Vector and the doorframe, rubbing his growling belly. "Awesome! Man, Charmy, Rogue, and Vector are _so_ going to hate me when they find out that they missed out on the good stuff because I let them sleep in."

Amy was a bit concerned. "What?" Her stare was a tad heated when Vector let her in, closing the door. "Why did you do that? You should've gotten them up! They wanted to learn too!"

Grey blinked back at her, not getting why she was upset about it. "Everyone deserved to sleep in, y'know? And they'll probably make it before Boom's done, and if not," the psychic tapped his head, "I'll teach them what I learned! Simple as that!" When he saw that Amy had marginally calmed down, he resumed following the delicious smell.

When he entered the kitchen, all eyes were on him. "Hey, everyone!" Grey waved with both hands and eyed the plates. Hopefully there was some for him, but before he got to that…

He focused on Rosy, who had brightened at his appearance. The psychic motioned his hands upwards. "Rosy, can you stand up for me?"

The addressed had no idea what this was about, but she did so anyway. The breath was then knocked out of her when she was suddenly hugged. She couldn't hear, but she didn't need to, because Grey wasn't saying anything. It was all in the hug – all of the sadness, faith, and hope. She fought her tears. She wasn't going to cry over this. Not again.

Grey pulled away before she managed to hug him back, his hands squeezing her shoulders. The smile had disappeared from his face, but his eyes shone with confidence. "Things'll get better, okay?"

Rosy's grin was weak yet solid. "Tell me something I don't know."

The smile was back. Grey patted her on the shoulder. "That's what I like to hear! Now…" The psychic felt a hunger pang. Since he was sure Rosy was alright, it was time to grub. " _Please_ tell me that there's extra pancakes!"

His mood took a nosedive when she shook her head, a sorry expression on her face. "I didn't think about cooking extra. I thought you'd already eaten."

Grey wanted to collapse then and there. Instead, he ran over to the stove and desperately searched all over. "There has to be some left! Half a pancake, a slice, something!"

Espio watched as the hedgehog wasted his time for a second before he questioned, "Where are your roommates?"

"Sleeping, he said," Amy answered, strolling into the room with Vector at her side.

"Hopefully th-they'll make it…" TT uttered.

"I hope so too!" Amy then sniffed the air and scanned the breakfast items. "Those look really good!"

"They are!" Charmy beamed at her. "Rosy made them, and they're better than Espio's!"

"Do you have to drive that point home every time, Charmy?" The chameleon drummed his fingers on the table.

"Yep!"

Rosy, who had sat back down, wished that she had cooked more; and that the Chaotix had more batter. "Sorry that we didn't have enough for you and Grey."

Amy waved her off. "It's fine! I already ate!"

Vector looked around the table, pursing his lips. "And sorry that we ran out of room. You can take my seat!"

"There's no need for that!" Rosy exclaimed before scooting over a bit in her chair and patting the seat. "There's enough room here."

"Thanks!" Amy approached her and they managed to share the chair. Amy briefly embraced her twin, the gesture being immediately returned. "So are you ready to learn sign language?"

Rosy plopped a piece of pancake in her mouth. "More than ready. I just… _really_ need Boom to be a good teacher."

If he wasn't, Amy was going to have a few choice words with him. "Oh, he's going to be."

While they were talking, Grey had given up on scrounging for leftovers. He glanced back at the table full of goodies and a light bulb lit up in his mind. He activated his powers and floated over to his double, mentally taking control of the other's fork.

A shocked Silver sputtered out, "Wh-what are you doing?!" He tried to retake the utensil with his brain, starting a mental tug of war.

"Come on!" Grey pleaded. "We're the same person, yeah? So don't worry about germs if you're scared of that! I'm starving!"

Silver blinked before relaxing his grip on the fork. "If you would've asked, I wouldn't have said no."

Grey ruffled his twin's forehead quills. "I'll keep that in mind next time! Thanks so much!" He lifted the plate until it was held with his fingers. He gripped the utensil and ate the last half of the breakfast while floating up and down in the air, ignoring how a somewhat disgruntled Silver fixed his spines for the second time that day.

When Grey was finished, he longed for more, but it couldn't be helped. He gained Rosy's attention by waving his fork. "Props to the chef! Like, seriously." The empty plates all around supported the compliment.

"It was nothing much…" Rosy tried to stay humbled, but it was hard. Instead of one person praising her, a roomful of people were now doing so. "But enough about me." She hoped that her voice was softer. "How are you and Charmy dealing without Bla-" Tears immediately started to well up in Grey's eyes, and Rosy decided to avoid finishing the question to stop the potential waterfalls. They had all seen – and cried – enough tears to last a lifetime.

Luckily, the topic didn't get a chance to be expanded upon. Rosy was a little surprised when heads jerked in the direction of the living room again. Someone must've knocked.

"I'll get it this time." Espio stood out of his chair and ambled to the door, wondering who it was. It was near the time Boom was supposed to show up, but he didn't put it past the hedgehog to arrive late. He opened the door to reveal emerald orbs. Espio had misjudged him, then. "Good morning, Boom."

The azure speedster had his arms crossed, expression blank. "Yeah," he finally responded.

Espio examined him, spotting a couple blades of grass sticking out of the hedgie's quills. The chameleon had a couple of places in mind where he could've slept last night, one taking precedence. But it seemed that he hadn't had a good night's rest, as there were near-invisible bags under his dull eyes. Espio didn't comment on it, however, knowing the concern wouldn't be appreciated. The chameleon exhaled heavily before stepping aside to let him in.

After closing the door, the ninja led Boom into the kitchen.

The speedster surveyed the area as Espio sat down, noticing that all eyes were on him and that the place smelled like breakfast. Boom disregarded the inaudible rumble in his stomach. He would eat later.

"If you're hungry, you should've been here earlier." Boom focused on who he assumed was Grey. The psychic was sitting cross-legged in the air with a plate in his lap, wiping at his eyes. "You could've bummed off of someone like I did."

"I'm not hungry." Boom's response was automatic, monotone. He couldn't think about what he was doing. If he did, his mind would wander, and then he would be treading on thin ice. He didn't have the choice to leave, though. Rosy needed this, just like how Mephiles…

…Dammit. He had to keep his thoughts on a tighter leash.

The azure anthro approached the table, positioning himself right across from Rosy, in between Silver and Grey. His tone was sharp. "Let's get this over with."

That rubbed Rosy the wrong way. "I'm not supposed to be a _b-burden_ to you." Beside her, Amy glared at Boom once she saw that Rosy was having trouble doing so. Other emotions were clouding her anger.

Rosy bit her lip. "No one's making you do it. If you want to go, then _go._ "

Boom saw TT rub her arm in reassurance, but he didn't break eye contact with the pinkette. She had lost something like he had – something that was gone forever.

"I'm teaching you the alphabet first, because if you forget a word or phrase, you can just spell it out," he said, and Rosy relaxed a bit in her seat. Boom then regarded the rest of the table, no inflection in his voice. "I'm only teaching her, so if any of you lag behind, I don't care."

There were curt nods all around. No arguments.

Boom took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. He stared right at Rosy and held up his right hand. It looked like a fist, but the tips of his fingers weren't digging into his palm – the pads flattened – and his thumb was resting against his pointer fingers. "This is 'A'." There was movement all around him, but he only focused on one bubblegum-quilled hedgehog.

Rosy positioned her fingers and glanced at Boom to make sure she was right. The speedster nodded. He then positioned his digits like they were a stop hand signal, except his thumb was pressed against his palm. "This is 'B'." She copied his positioning again, and they continued this process until they hit 'Z'.

After the pinkette figured out the correct way to draw the ending letter with her pointer finger, he said, "Try to spell your name."

"She's lucky to have a short name," Charmy mumbled to himself as he stared at his hand, not knowing where to start.

"Um…" Rosy chewed the inside of her cheek, racking her brain. They had gone through all the letters just once, so she didn't know if anything actually stuck. After a moment of thought, she signed, **"A… N… Y."**

"'M' is three fingers, not two," Boom corrected robotically, showing her the right sign.

She fixed her mistake. "Got it."

"We can do simple words and phrases next." Boom paused for a second before holding his fingers up to his lips. He then moved them out and down. "This means thank you."

Both pink twins repeated the action. "This is simple enough!" Amy commented with a smile. "It's like blowing someone a kiss!"

"Yeah, you have enough practice with that, Amy." Silver chuckled, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Once Rosy got used to the easy action, Boom moved on. "Next, make an 'A' with your fist and put it on your chest. Move it in a clockwise direction." When the azure hedgehog performed the sign, a buried memory surged. His next words were a bit shaky, to everyone else's surprise. "This... this means…" Before he could finish, his mind drifted.

* * *

Sonic stared at the food in front of him with a blatant grimace. The questionable meal was sitting in an open cardboard box, its smell making his stomach growl and almost making him gag at the same time. The pizza was slightly burnt, had something he couldn't name growing on one part of the crust, and there were sardines on it. It was obviously the source of the smell.

The hedgehog scrunched his nose up at it, but he had no choice. This was actually one of the better garbage raids, so he had to suck it up. He had to be a good role model.

Sonic smiled just for show as he picked up a wrinkled slice. He flicked away a couple of the sardines and took a bite. It was okay enough to eat. He swallowed and laughed. "We can have this for a long time! It's a full circle!" He bit into the pizza again and glanced over at his neighbor, who was sitting beside him in silence, giving the food a distrusting look. Sonic nudged him. "C'mon Mephy! You hafta eat! You're hungry, right?"

The blue-striped hedgie blinked at him before hugging his knees against his chest and shaking his head.

Sonic pouted. "You storyteller." He picked up a slice with his unoccupied hand after brushing off the sardines. "It's really, really good!" The hedgie held it to his friend's mouth and moved it in a hopefully tempting manner. Mephiles was stubborn, though. He covered half of his face with his arms.

Blue ears perked when a suspicious sound emitted from the striped one's stomach. A victorious grin grew on Sonic's muzzle. "See! Your belly thinks the same! Open!"

Mephy fought it a little more, but he eventually gave in. He hesitantly took the tip of the slice between his teeth and bit it. When he swallowed, he stuck his tongue out in disgust.

Sonic snickered when the other 'hog took the pizza out of his hand. "See? Not that bad!" Mephiles just puffed his cheeks in irritation as he finished off the slice. Despite how he apparently didn't like it, Mephy reached out for more.

Sonic hastily closed the box with Mephy sending him a hurt look. The blue anthro shoved the rest of the piece of pizza in his mouth and got off the hard asphalt, the cardboard box in hand. Mephiles' expression morphed into a confused one when he stood up as well.

The blue mammal didn't respond to it, instead searching for a place to stash their edible prize until they came back. He glanced up and down the alleyway before focusing on a large pile of bigger boxes and zipping over there. He hid the pizza before approaching Mephiles.

Sonic peered up at the sky before saying anything. The sun was beginning to set. Perfect timing. He then grabbed a surprised Mephy's wrist and pointed out of the alley. "I found someplace new we have to go to! While you were napping earlier, I heard people say that you can learn a lot of things at the library! Maybe you can learn how to talk!"

Mephiles vehemently shook his head, ears folded downwards. He was trying to pull out of Sonic's grasp.

The azure hedgie didn't understand. "Don't you wanna learn how to talk?" His friend was slightly trembling now. Sonic pursed his lips. It… it wasn't because he was shy, was it? Sonic loosened his fingers, and Mephiles hugged his hand close to him, taking a couple steps back. "Don't be scared!" He didn't like seeing Mephy like this. "It's getting dark, see?" Sonic pointed to the sky, the other's reluctant gaze following it. "People are going to be sleeping! It won't be a lot of them!"

When the striped hedgehog didn't budge, Sonic switched tactics. He tapped his foot repeatedly on the ground. "I just want to know what you sound like! Please?" Sonic jutted out his lip and made his eyes big and wide.

Mephiles' resolve was beginning to crumble, he could tell. "Only nice people will be there! _Please?_ "

The striped hedgie's trembling had ceased, but he still looked worried. Even so, Mephy merged with his blue friend's shadow.

"Yay!" Sonic cheered, clapping his hands. "It'll be fun, you'll see! The people came out of a big building by the park! We'll get there in no time!" He then blasted off, his young legs guiding them through the backstreets toward their destination.

Once there, Sonic found that the parking lot was near empty. He smiled as he jogged up to the doors of what he believed was the library. Sonic peered up at the handle that was out of his reach. He could jump up, but he couldn't pull it open.

"Mephy!" He glanced at his shadow, which had two green reptilian eyes staring back at him. "Get me up!"

Mephiles maneuvered right underneath Sonic's legs and phased out of the ground, letting the blue 'hog sit on his shoulders. Mephy wobbled back and forth because of Sonic's weight, and the speedster shouted words of encouragement until he got a grip on the handle.

Sonic grinned. "We did it! Now you have to walk back-" He gasped when the door slammed into both of their faces. The pair hit the ground hard, Sonic whimpering as pain blossomed from the back of his head.

"I'm so sorry! Are you two okay?"

Sonic rubbed the tender spot as he sat up, barely sparing the person talking a glance before sending Mephiles a worried look. Tears pricked the striped one's eyes, but he was too busy cowering away from the newcomer to nurse the bruise growing under his head-quills.

Mephy didn't seem too badly hurt, so Sonic focused on the stranger. It was a tall lady with a purse and keys in her hands.

"We're fine!" The azure mammal hopped to his feet, wanting to look strong in front of her. Mephiles ducked behind him, gaze wary. The woman relaxed, and Sonic asked, "Do you work here?"

She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I do, but I'm sorry, we're closed right now." She looked around a bit. "Where are your-"

"It can't be closed!" Sonic felt his chest tighten. "My friend needs to learn how to talk!"

"Learn how to…?" She focused on Mephiles, and he hid a bit more. After glancing around one last time, she released a quiet sigh and knelt down to their height. Her expression was soft and gentle. "Is… is he deaf?"

"Deaf?" Sonic tilted his head in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"Can he hear you?"

The azure glanced at his curious and cautious friend before nodding confidently. "Yeah! He can hear me!"

"He doesn't talk…" The woman hummed quietly for a second. "Does he make any other sounds?"

Sonic shook his head, and Mephy subtly copied his action. "Nope! Nothing!"

The lady smiled, but it was sad. "I'm not completely sure, but I think he's mute." Before Sonic could ask again what that was, she explained, "When someone is mute, they can't… learn how to talk."

"He can't?" Sonic stomped on the ground, not wanting to believe it. "No! Y-you're… you're wrong!" He felt Mephy's sad gaze on him. "He has to learn!"

Her eyes swirled with sympathy. "How about this, you two. Come back here early tomorrow, and I will teach you how to talk…" She raised her arms and wiggled her fingers. "…with your hands!"

Sonic pursed his lips. "With letters? He can draw letters."

She was slightly surprised, but the look disappeared in a flash. "That's great, but with my way, it's much quicker!"

Sonic and Mephiles were equally awed. "Really?!"

Her smile was happier. "Yes, really!" She lightly chuckled. "What are your names?"

The blue speedster pointed at himself. "I'm Sonic!" He then gestured to a less timid Mephiles. "And that's Mephy!"

"Well, Sonic, Mephy, before I go, I'm going to teach you a little something." The kids shared a look with varying levels of giddiness. The lady rose a hand and made a weird-looking fist. She placed it against her chest and moved it clockwise. "This means 'I'm sorry'. Let's go back to earlier." Her hand made a circle. " **I'm sorry** … for hitting you."

Sonic's eyes were wide with wonder as he clumsily copied her action multiple times. "Sorry. Sorry! Mephy!" He turned to his friend. "This is so awesome!"

Mephiles nodded in muted excitement as he repeated the action over and over again, eyes sparkling. The woman smiled warmly at them before standing. "Now, I have to get going, but I'll see you two back here tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay!" Sonic energetically waved as she walked away, Mephy doing so with slightly less enthusiasm. The blue hedgehog then whirled around to face his friend. He jumped high into the air, fist pumping. "It's sad that you can't learn how to talk, but you can do it with your hands! That's so cool!"

Mephiles' expression brightened, and Sonic laughed. It'd be much easier to talk to Mephy now! The blue hedgie then rubbed his tummy. "We're done here! So... ready for some more pizza?"

Mephy's features twisted up in disgust, but there was a small smile on his muzzle anyway.

* * *

A hand on his shoulder startled him back into the present.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Boom's moist emeralds swiveled away from the tableful of worried stares to meet Grey, who had asked the question with a concerned frown. The speedster's mind took a moment to restart, reminding himself where he was, what he was doing, and that he was in the process of reminiscing – and possibly breaking down – in front of an unwanted audience.

He needed to leave.

Boom hastily ended the contact with a jerk of his shoulder. "I'm done." For right now, for today, or for forever, he didn't know. He just needed some damn air. Boom turned to leave, but he paused at a feminine voice.

"We can take a break now, if that's what you want!" Rosy shot her words out quickly. She was standing up, leaning against the table and her fingers straining against it. She fought to control her voice because she had a good guess as to why Boom had frozen like that. "We can take a break…" Rosy continued at she hoped was a lower volume. "…because we know what you're going through. We all miss him."

That must have triggered something within Boom, for he spun on his heel and slammed his hand on the table, startling the others. A long crack formed because of it. His teeth were bared, snarling. " _You_ didn't drag him to his fucking _death._ "

It was a stare-down between the two. Rosy didn't dare back down, although her gaze was nowhere as heated as his was. "It's not your fault." She shook her head. "No one… no one blames you. Mephiles…that was an accident, just like how Cream and her family…" The rest of the table solemnly agreed with her as tears fell from her eyes. She couldn't stop them. "They were accidents caused by Sabo, and he's _gone_ now."

It was quiet for a moment. Boom was breathing heavier, still glaring, but it was aimed at the cluttered table rather than her.

Rosy reined in her raging emotions, wiping away the dampness on her face. Her misty jades then went to find Grey, who looked to be fighting back tears too. "Y-you know where their graves are, right?" The psychic blinked in surprise, but he nodded anyway. "Take me there, please…"

"Me t-too." TT stood up, ears droopy.

"Me three." Amy followed suit, taking Rosy's hand and squeezing it.

The Chaotix got up as well. Vector gestured vaguely to the front yard. "We can take the jeep to make the trip easier."

Espio noticed that Silver was still seated, his brow furrowed as he fiddled with his fingers. "Silver?" White ears twitched, and golden irises rose. "Are you coming?"

The long-quilled hedgie avoided his gaze and shook his head. "I didn't know Mephiles or Cream… and I don't want to intrude in on the moment, you know?"

"You wouldn't be intruding." Espio opposed. "But you can stay here if you want."

Grey stared at his twin for a moment before addressing Boom. "Hey, jerk… are you coming too?"

"No." It was almost a hiss, but it lacked the necessary energy.

"Will you be here when we come back?" Grey dared to get closer, tears dried and his tone having a sharper edge to it. "She really needs this." Boom barely spared him a glance, continuously looking down at the table. Grey patted him once on the shoulder, and he tensed; though he still kept quiet. Grey's lips twitched upwards before he gestured for the rest to follow him, calling out, "Come on. It's far, but not too far."

Footsteps echoed as the group filtered out. Charmy had lingered behind just to say to Silver, "Don't let him break anything!"

Vector, who had heard, responded. "You're the last person to ask that, Charmy…"

After those words, Silver and Boom were alone.

The psychic felt the awkwardness smother them; or at least him. Boom was lost in his own mind, not acknowledging his existence. Silver wanted to say something, anything, but – to simply put it – Boom wasn't as approachable as Sonic, especially while in this state.

Silver watched as the speedster exhaled harshly through his nose before giving the psychic his attention. Silver unconsciously sat up straighter at the intense stare. It was safe to say that he was more like Shadow than Sonic.

"Why are you still here?" Boom asked crisply, needing a distraction. He had to pull his brain out of the murky water it was drowning in.

Silver didn't expect the blunt question. "Um…" He frowned in confusion. "Did you hear what I told-"

"I heard _that_." Boom dropped down into the nearest seat, the wooden legs screeching against the floor. He drummed his fingers against the table in irritation. "I meant, why are you still _here._ Go back home."

"Oh." Now that cleared things up. Silver scratched his cheek. "I'm here because I want to spend a bit more time with the friends I have before I go back." He sheepishly laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Honestly, I have more here in the past than I do in the future."

Boom creased his brow. The psychic was strange too, but not as strange as the Psycho. "Tch. Why don't you just stay here then?"

Silver cocked his head at the other, not completely understanding him. His tone was bland and dull like he was bored out of his mind and wanting to end this conversation as soon as possible; but his face, while mostly expressionless, showed a bit of interest. He was way more complicated than Sonic too.

The psychic shrugged. "It's kinda, uh… my duty to make sure the future stays bright. I've been to this past a couple times when things went awry. The first time…" Silver paused, unsure. "…well…"

"Spit it out."

Silver chewed his cheek. Hopefully this wouldn't set the other off. "The first time I came back, it was after I met with… I guess this dimension's Mephiles." Boom's eyes widened before they narrowed into slits. That was a curious reaction. Silver questioned, "Did they not tell you about… our Mephiles?"

Boom's rigid body language clearly communicated a 'no'.

Silver wondered why not, but then again, they probably didn't have time to with all the chaos that went on. "Okay, for starters, he wasn't anything like your Mephiles."

"Wasn't?" Boom's voice was icy.

Silver figured that an explanation was in order, and maybe that could get the other to relax somewhat. "I'll get to that in a bit. Our Mephiles was completely evil, and he wasn't… mortal."

Boom hadn't gotten over the fact that a Mephiles could be anything other than innocent beyond belief before the other finished his sentence. Wasn't mortal? What in the hell did that mean?

He asked that aloud, and Silver didn't beat around the bush. "Mephiles was a time god, or… half of one I think." It hadn't been really clear.

That was the last thing Boom expected the psychic to say. "You have to be bullshitting me. He was a damned _god?_ "

Silver nodded, briefly reliving those nightmarish memories. "Yeah, to save our worlds, we had to kill him. And we did."

Boom eyed him for a minute before scowling. "If you're lyin' to me, I effing swear—"

"I'm not!" Silver held his hands up. "You can ask anyone! They'll tell you the same thing." He lowered his limbs as Boom tapped his foot, still indecisive. "Trust me, when I first learned about Sabo, I couldn't believe it either. Then I came here and met you guys…" Silver chuckled. "But your situation's a bit different, yeah? Our Mephiles isn't here, so you don't have tangible proof."

"No, I don't." Boom looked away, trying and failing to picture Mephiles somehow destroying everything.

"Not that it's a bad thing. It's _really_ good actually." Silver added before noticing that Boom's glare was gone, replaced with something sadder. It wasn't obvious, but Silver noticed it enough to venture, "You and… Mephiles had been good friends for a long time, right?"

Boom sent daggers, but he didn't follow up with a punch like Silver thought he would. "No. We weren't," the azure speedster said stiffly, getting out of his chair and heading for the exit.

"Wait!" Silver reached out for him. "I…" He was going to apologize but thought against it, believing that it would only make things worse. "Where are you going?"

"None of your business," Boom snappily replied.

Silver also had the idea to use his powers, but immediately ousted it. He wasn't going to force him to stay. "Are you going to be back when they return?"

"Don't worry about me."

He ran, leaving a guilty Silver behind by himself.

* * *

 **And the first chapter is done! As you can tell from the lack of robots and the lack of bodies raining from the sky, this story starts off a bit slower than the previous two. These guys deserve a little downtime :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- I don't own anything (though I wish I did).  
**

 **OOOOOOOOh my gosh, guys! You don't know how happy it makes me that all of you were just as pumped to start this series back up as I was! All of the support makes me smile, and I'll repay you with this new chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

 **And again, I'd like to thank 18204 for beta-ing!**

 **Chapter 2- You're Invited!**

"No, Sonic! Don't-"

The sound of glass shattering filled the air.

"-step back…"

Sonic sucked in a breath as he glanced down, lifting his foot off the package of what used to be lightbulbs. He _swore_ that they hadn't been there when he backed up. Chuckling sheepishly, he lifted his gaze to the other occupants of the room and scratched his cheek. "Oops…"

Knuckles, who had just finished installing a ceiling fan, stared down at Sonic in disbelief. His fist clenched around the screwdriver in his hand. He was so close to jumping down the ladder he was on and tackling the speedster to the ground. First Sonic tripped over some wires, then he spilled _multiple_ buckets of paint, and now he ruined a good package of lightbulbs — that they had no more of.

Did Sonic want his new house fixed up or not?

Tails' ears drooped as he surveyed the damage from his position at the base of the ladder. He sighed. "Well, there go those…" His warning to save the bulbs had been one second too late, but how was he supposed to know that Sonic _never_ looked down when he walked?

"Yeah, those are caput, but we have some more somewhere, right?" Sonic did a quick visual search around the rather bare living room, finding scattered chairs, random hammers, and other items that weren't the needed lightbulbs.

Tails sadly shook his head. "Those were the only ones we had, Sonic!" The kit then pointed at the front door, his expression morphing into a slightly mocking one. "And guess who has to get some more?"

Sonic knew it surely wasn't Knuckles. "Yeah, yeah…" He turned on his heel and waved over his shoulder. "Be right back!" He was about to zoom out and start his retrieval mission, but a thought came to him. A grin growing on his muzzle, he faced his friends again. Tails was cocking his head at him, and Knuckles had returned to the ceiling fan, making sure it was safely secure.

Sonic winked at his kid brother before addressing the echidna. "Hey Knux, remember that little bet we made a few days ago?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. Did Sonic expect him to remember something as mundane as a _bet_ after all that had happened? "No, I don't remember any stupid bet, Sonic."

"Really? Not even one regarding whether our doubles were actually _real_ and the fact that our new fridge is lookin' mighty empty?"

Heated amethyst orbs narrowed at the speedster as said memory resurfaced.

" _Hey, Blue."_

" _Yeah?"_

 _Knuckles sent the hedgehog a smug smirk. "When we figure out that I'm right about all of this, thus winning the argument, you'll have to do something for me."_

 _Sonic glanced over and returned the smirk. "Oh really, Knucklehead? And what would that be?"_

" _I don't know yet. Just know that it's going to be entertaining for me."_

 _The blue hero scratched his nose. "Well, keep dreamin' because that will never happen. When it shows that_ _ **I'm**_ _right…" The grin grew larger. "I'm just sayin' that our fridge has been looking really empty the past couple days."_

...Yeah, now he remembered and wished that Sonic hadn't. "Are you serious? You still want me to go _grocery shopping_ for you?"

"Yep!" Sonic chirped, emphasizing the 'p'. When the guardian didn't move from his spot upon the ladder, the hero snickered and held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, Knux. We can compromise! We can go shopping together." His smile widened. "So you won't just get grapes or somethin'. We're havin' a party later, and I gotta make sure only good stuff's on the menu!"

"So why don't you just go yourself?!" Knuckles focused on an observing Tails, who seemed somewhat amused, to his disdain. "Tails! Help me out here!"

The kit passively shrugged. "You _did_ make the bet." When Knuckles groaned, the fox chuckled. "It shouldn't take that long! I'll find something else for me to do while you two are gone." The house was full of fixer-uppers, which he didn't mind, because it was kinda fun shaping it into their new home. It may take a while to get it how they wanted, but they had all the time in the world.

Sonic grinned in victory as Knuckles climbed down the ladder, grumbling angrily to himself. Tails was holding the base so the echidna wouldn't fall off. Knuckles handed the screwdriver over to the kit and stomped out of the house, muttering about hedgehogs and never agreeing to bets again.

"I think he forgot that he was the first to make the bet," Sonic said jovially before waving at his brother again. He was going to leave for real this time. "Have fun tinkering, Tails!"

"Don't forget the lightbulbs!"

"Don't worry!" Sonic saluted before leaving, closing the front door behind him.

The blue blur soaked in the morning sun's rays as a cool breeze weaved through his quills. Sonic stood in front of his house for a moment, taking in the view. His and Tails' house was sitting on top of a grassy knoll that gradually transformed into a sandy shore. They had picked a place at the far end of Emerald Coast. It was perfect. They didn't have any neighbors; they had enough room to do anything they wanted out here, and the ocean was close but not too close. Tails could visit the water while Sonic stayed well away from it.

Out there in the watery deathtrap was Angel Island, floating proud upon the shifting waves. Even though there was no threat to the Master Emerald at the moment — Sabo was detained, and Eggman surely wasn't ready to make any type of move yet — Knuckles still wanted the isle close by as he helped with the home.

The house had come with basic appliances, electricity, and plumbing, but that was about it. There was work to be done before it could compare to their home pre-explosion; however, he would love his place just the same. This time, _no_ strange robots were allowed.

Sonic exhaled softly before searching for that hot-headed friend of his. Knuckles was gliding in the air, going in the direction of Station Square. The city wasn't far away at all, its looming buildings visible in the distance.

The azure speedster caught up to him in no time, slowing his speed so he wouldn't blow past the echidna. Knuckles didn't look any happier than he was on the inside. Sonic smirked up at him. "This isn't so bad, Knux! What's the difference between helping us with the house and helping us with groceries anyway?"

"Well, I _volunteered_ to do one of them!" The guardian bit, squinting against the wind.

"You know the risks of betting, Knux!" Sonic chirped cheekily. "At least it wasn't something more embarrassing, which I _should've_ thought of."

Knuckles was relieved that Sonic hadn't been more creative, for there were now many more faces that could've made the embarrassing act way worse. "Be lucky that you didn't, because I would probably be punching you right now."

Sonic barked out a laugh. "Hey, not my fault that you lost, Knux!" Emerald orbs focused at the city steadily getting closer. "Plus, we might see some of the others! Find out how they're doing!"

Knuckles grunted. "You know they're fine, Sonic! I just want to get the food as soon as possible." He really didn't want to linger around the city for too long. There were a couple of Mobians he'd rather not run into.

Sonic smiled knowingly. "Who are you tryin' to avoid, Knucklehead? Red, Rogue, or Boom?"

"All three." Knuckles subtly frowned. Though his opinion of Red had improved since their initial meeting, the guardian didn't wish to start a conversation with him. Red would probably fall asleep mid-sentence anyway. Rogue pushed his buttons like another bat he knew, but unlike Rouge, the male bat had made some major mistakes. With Boom… he doubted anyone _wanted_ to talk to Boom.

"C'mon, Knux! Leave the past behind us, yeah?" Sonic advised, mirth in his tone. "Rogue and Red are pretty cool, and well… Boom's takin' baby steps." His twin had definitely changed after Mephiles died. At first glance, it didn't seem like it, but teaching Rosy and simply being around TT without any malicious intent was a _huge_ step up.

Knuckles perked up a bit at that. "Oh yeah, he's supposed to be over at the Chaotix's now, right?" If he was, then he didn't have to worry about bumping into that loudmouth.

"Think so!" Sonic was planning on learning some sign language later at the party so he could talk to Rosy and not miss out on any secret conversations. "See? He's gettin' better!" He _really_ appreciated his double not randomly hitting people anymore.

Well, Boom's 'better' was still pretty bad, Knuckles mused. He had a long way to go. Still, maybe Knuckles could take it a bit easier on him. Mephiles' death was… jarring, to say the least. It was more like being hit in the chest twenty times over.

It wasn't long before they reached the bustling city. Sonic slowed to a stop on the sidewalk, waiting for Knuckles to land beside him. "So the closest convenience store would be…" The blue blur glanced in multiple directions before pointing to the right. "This way! Follow the leader, Knux!" Sonic chuckled at the exasperated echidna before jogging off and weaving through pedestrians. He was going slow enough for the guardian to catch up.

The pair eventually made it to a one-stop shop. They could get lightbulbs and find all the food they needed. However, before Sonic and Knuckles could step inside, a voice called out to them.

"Hello, boys." The heroic duo searched around for the person, and it wasn't hard to find the culprit — a white bat was flying over to them, waving. Rouge touched down in front of the pair and raised a curious brow. "What are you doing this fine day?"

Sonic returned her cheerful wave. "Just pickin' up some stuff! I dragged Knucklehead along because he lost a bet."

Knuckles pointedly looked away from the mocking looks both Sonic and Rouge were giving him. Did he _seriously_ have to bring that up?

"Oh, really?" Rouge put a hand on her hip, the mirth clear in her voice. "What kind of bet, Blue?"

"Does it matter?!" The echidna threw his hands in the air. "Let's just get this over with!"

Sonic laughed. "No need to get so riled up! It's not like I'm makin' you give up your rock or something." The speedster then focused on Rouge, gesturing inside the store. "Wanna come with and help? The more the merrier!"

"No!"

"Sure." Rouge contrasted Knuckles, who huffed indignantly. The trio strolled inside the store. Teal orbs scanned the many aisles in front of them. "So, what are we shopping for, hon?"

Knuckles glared at Sonic. "If she's here to help you, then why can't I go back?"

"Because you lost, Knux! You're not gettin' out of this so easily!" Sonic wiggled a finger at him. Knuckles grumbled to himself and trained his glare on Rouge when she patted his shoulder in mock sympathy. Sonic then tapped his chin and regarded the bat. "Rouge, you can just find us some lightbulbs while Knux and I go do some grocery shoppin'."

Rouge was confused for a moment, but then she realized that the hedgehog had probably found a place to stay. "Can do, sugar." Before they split up, she added one more thing. "And Knuckie." Knuckles peered back at her. "It's not his fault you lost."

She smirked as the echidna marched angrily away, a snickering Sonic at his heels. Her day off just got a little better. Rouge's attention drifted away from the two and back to the shelves before her. If she were lightbulbs, where would she be? In the home improvement section, most likely.

Flapping her wings, Rouge headed in the opposite direction the boys went in. She slowly flew past aisles, glancing down them to see if they held the item she was looking for. This went on for a minute or so until something caught her eye, and it wasn't the lightbulbs.

Putting her little mission on hold for a moment, Rouge let her wings rest and sauntered through the shelves lined with various tools. She approached her oblivious target who was busy examining several hammers.

When she spoke, she was finally noticed. "Well, fancy meeting you here, Rogue."

The male released a charming grin after he realized she was there. He faced her fully, slightly leaning against the shelf. "Hey, Roo. What are you doing here?"

"Nothing much." Rouge subtly shrugged. "Just running a small errand. What about you?"

"Same here." Rogue turned to grab a hammer, weighing it in his grip. "About to pick up some tools."

The G.U.N agent hummed before trying something out. Her lips curved upwards at his curious expression. "Tools, huh? I do love a man who's good with his hands."

Rogue wasn't fazed. He chuckled, regaining eye contact. "Really? What a coincidence! Because I love a woman who knows exactly what she wants."

Rouge blinked before smiling, giving mini applause. "Impressive."

"Thank you, thank you." The male Mobian shallowly bowed. "I've got a whole arsenal in the back."

"I'm sure you do." She leisurely crossed her arms. "I'm glad you're here, hon. You're a breath of fresh air."

Rogue put down the hammer before reaching for another. "How so?"

"Everyone else is too stiff," she explained. "If I tease Knuckles like that, he doesn't know what to do with himself." Rogue snorted, seeing that happening. "And Shadow just ignores me altogether, and that's no fun."

"It's true that those guys need to lighten up a little. If you need to be entertained, I'll be happy to oblige!" Rogue laughed to himself. "And if Knuckles is around, that'll be icing on the cake. Seeing him flustered is _hilarious_."

"You see why I do it all the time." She absentmindedly tapped her finger against her arm, eyes shifting back the way she came. Rouge smirked. "Speaking of Knuckles…he and Sonic are here too."

"They are?" Rogue asked, and she nodded.

"Yes!"

He replaced the hammer, sighing in relief. "I don't need that, then."

The female bat blinked. That wasn't the reaction she expected. "What did you need it for, hon? Don't tell me you broke something in your apartment already."

Rogue smiled sheepishly. "Not yet." He rubbed the back of his neck, a few chortles escaping him. "I was looking because… because little dude got stuck in the toilet."

It took a few moments for her mind to process that. "The kid bee… got stuck… in the toilet?" She repeated like she hadn't heard the words correctly.

Rogue gestured to himself. "It wasn't my fault! Silv's the one who probably left the seat up, since he wasn't there when we woke up." He heavily exhaled. "So I guess the kid needed to… do some _business_ , and he didn't look before sitting."

Rouge pictured it, and she covered her mouth to help stifle her snickers.

"You can laugh." Rogue waved her off. "Hell, I nearly busted a lung as soon as I left the apartment."

Once she reined herself back in, she asked, "So why do you need Knuckie?"

His grin was lopsided. "For his strength and so _we_ aren't the ones to blame if he breaks the toilet."

She patted his arm. "Smart thinking, sugar. Let's go find them."

On the other side of the store, Sonic was currently indecisive about which brand of hot dogs to get.

The speedster stared at the package in his left hand. "These are thicker…" He then focused on the food item in his right. "But these have a burst of flavor…"

Knuckles, who had been fuming beside him for the past few minutes, blindingly reached out and snatched one of the packages. "This one! We're taking this one!"

Sonic didn't seem too sure. "But these are bigger and…" A thought came to him. "Oh, wait! We can just get both of them! Best of both worlds!"

Knuckles was _this close_ to throwing the hot dogs at Sonic's head. "So we stood here for who knows _how_ long just for you to decide to get _both-_ " The echidna cut himself off as he peered over the hedgehog's shoulder, focusing on the two familiar figures who were fast approaching them. "Great," he mumbled.

Sonic cocked his head at the echidna's rapid change in demeanor before glancing backwards. In stark contrast to the his frowning guardian neighbor, he smiled at the new arrival. "Hey, Rogue! Guess we're not the only ones shoppin' today!"

When Rogue had gotten close enough, the bat held out a fist and Sonic bumped it. Rogue grinned at the speedster. "You might be the only one, bro!"

Sonic furrowed his brow. "What do you mean by that?"

The male bat shifted his attention to Knuckles, making his expression as inviting as possible. The echidna didn't seem any more open to him. "What?" the red Mobian asked suspiciously. It was obvious that the bat wanted something from him. And with how amused Rouge seemed to be on the sidelines, it was something ridiculous.

"I – I mean, _we_ – need your help, man." Rogue started, and before Knuckles could say no, he went on. "We need your super strength back at the apartment. Charmy got stuck."

Knuckles figured that it was CB rather than the Chaotix's bee. "Stuck where?"

"In the toilet."

Spittle flew out of Sonic's mouth before he covered it, his shoulders shaking from laughter.

Knuckles narrowed his eyes at Rogue before looking at Sonic and then at a very entertained Rouge. His frown deepened when he regarded the male winged mammal. "You're tricking me, aren't you? This is a prank!"

Teal orbs widened, and Rogue shook his head vehemently. "No, dude! I'm telling the truth! He's seriously stuck!" He pointed in the general direction he had come from. "I was over there about to buy a freakin' hammer to get him out! Right, Rouge?"

Said agent nodded, validating his statement. "It's true, Knuckie." She poked the red echidna in the chest, raising a brow. "You won't let the poor kid suffer, will you?"

Knuckles glanced back and forth between the two bats in front of him, not sure what to believe. He resorted to meeting Sonic's emerald gaze, silently requesting an opinion. Sonic's grin was nearly splitting his face in half as he replaced the hot dogs. "Look, Knux, if CB is really stuck, I _seriously_ have to see that."

The echidna groaned before putting back his 'dogs as well and pointing at a relieved Rogue. "Fine! I'll go. But I _swear_ if this is nothing but a joke-!"

"I give you permission to punch me, man. Right here." Rogue tapped his own cheek before jumping up into the air. "Alright, let's go!" He flew around to Knuckles' back and grabbed the echidna's arms in one swift movement.

"Hey!" the echidna shouted, suddenly airborne. He struggled to free himself, but Rogue was strong enough to hold on tight. "Let me go!"

"I will when we get there!" The bat laughed before leaving the store, a still chuckling Sonic and an interested Rouge following behind.

* * *

CB was extremely shocked when Rogue didn't come back with the tools he had promised, but with an _audience._

An embarrassed flush reddened his cheeks as he squirmed futilely in his porcelain throne. It wasn't that others could see anything– his body was positioned like an unused folding chair– but…but there was a _girl_ here!

Leaning against the bathroom wall was VC, who was thinking that this was a _great_ way to start the morning. He addressed the flabbergasted Knuckles. "You seriously thought this was a joke? I thought so too until Rogue pulled me in here…"

"See!" The male bat gestured to the trapped bee. "I was telling the truth!"

"If only I had a camera…" Rouge mused aloud and CB hid his head in his hands, releasing a pitiful whimper.

Sonic knew that he should be more concerned, but he had to admit that this was the funniest thing he'd seen in a while. He nudged Knuckles forward. "Go ahead, Knux! Work some magic!"

Knuckles slowly blinked, and like VC, he secretly wished that this _had_ been a prank. He would have Rogue's permission to punch him, and he _woul_ _dn't_ have to pull a bee out of a toilet. Accepting his fate, he strode forward and held his hands out. "Hold on, kid."

"We already tried doing this once!" CB exclaimed, rubbing his wrists. "VC pulled and pulled, but he couldn't get me out!"

Knuckles lowered his arms. "Then how in the heck am I…" He peered down at the porcelain, hating more and more that Sonic remembered that stupid bet. He kneeled down and gripped one side of the bowl as tightly as he could, barely wedging his fingers. Maybe if he somehow widened the opening just a _bit_ ,the bee would be able to get out. "Someone hold his hands."

Rogue flapped over and did so.

Gritting his teeth, Knuckles focused and pulled, straining the bowl until a small crack formed in it.

VC saw this and exhaled harshly. "I'm not gonna be a witness to this." He made his way toward the exit of the bathroom, the others stepping out of his way. He paused by Sonic. "Just a heads up, you might need to be ready to refer us to another apartment."

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "If it comes down to that, I will! No prob!"

The croc appreciatively smiled at him before busying himself in the kitchen and hoping that they wouldn't get evicted.

Rogue tugged, but CB wasn't budging. "It's a no-go, dude."

"I wanna get out!" The bee whined. "My butt hurts!"

Knuckles wondered if the Chaotix had dealt with this before. He wouldn't be surprised if the answer was yes. "Just wait a second, kid. I have to-"

And not unlike the lightbulbs from earlier, the toilet bowl shattered.

* * *

"I'm sure it won't happen again! They're good friends, and it was just a freak accident. Give 'em another shot, what do ya say?"

The landlord was not amused, tense arms folded across his chest. The group of heroes were currently standing just outside the apartment door, the man in charge looking a bit more than ticked off.

Sonic was standing in front of the group, a placating smile on his face. The landlord wasn't budging, so the speedster was going to have to pull out his trump card so his friends wouldn't get kicked out.

"C'mon, ease up! It wasn't even their fault. My bud Knuckles here just doesn't know how strong he really is!" He motioned to the frowning echidna, who hated that his shoes were soaked. "And plus, this building wouldn't even be here if I hadn't stopped Eggman way back! Give them one more chance!"

The gruff man exhaled sharply before shifting his gaze to Rogue and VC – in which those two quickly glanced away and began innocently whistling – and a toweled CB whose large puppy eyes were apparently effective because the landlord's stance relaxed marginally.

"Fine. They can stay," the man stated before glaring at the occupants of the apartment. "But one more incident like this, and you're _out_. Are we clear?"

"Clear as crystal!" VC agreed, glad to have a roof over his head. "Won't happen again!"

"Good." The landlord glanced back through the open door. "The men in there won't be done for a while. Come back in an hour or two." Before anyone could say anything, he entered the apartment and slammed the door shut.

Sonic turned around and grinned. "Well, that's that! My charm works every time!"

Knuckles just scoffed at that.

"What are we gonna do now?" CB questioned, looking up at the older Mobians. The bee then focused on the towel wrapped around him. "What am I gonna do with this? I know! I can wear it like a cape!"

Rouge would take the towel from the kid, but she did _not_ want to touch the soiled cloth. "Do you really want to, hon? You dried off with it… because you fell in the toilet water."

It seemed like CB had just made that connection. "Ew!" He immediately dropped it on the ground, hovering away from it. "I wanna take a shower!"

VC wondered how the rest of his stay was going to go if _this_ happened on the first day. "Nah, you don't. All you need is a good hose down." He tapped his chin. "I think there's one out back…"

CB gasped. "But whyyy? That water's cold!"

"Look before you leap next time, kid." The croc huffed.

While the bee pouted, Rouge's lips curved upwards. "That's one way to teach a lesson."

He copied her expression. "Well, _someone_ has to be the adult around here."

"Hey!" Rogue shouted. "I'm more of an adult than you are, bro!"

VC scoffed. "As if!"

"I am."

"You're not."

"I am!"

"You're not!"

"If you two keep going like this, then I'm going to have to say that Grey has you two beat." Knuckles commented only for the two to round on him.

"It's _his_ fault that it happened!" The pair chorused.

Rouge put a hand on her hip. "Let's just pretend that you two are perfect adults so you can stop yelling." VC snorted and rolled his eyes, while Rogue slumped in defeat. Rouge gestured to the closed door. "Since you boys can't go back in there, what are you going to do?"

"Well, we were _supposed_ to be going to my double's place," VC answered.

"It was so mean for Silver to leave us!" CB shook his fist, cheeks puffing out. "I'm gonna get him for that!"

The croc continued like the bee hadn't spoken. "So, after hosing the kid down, we can make our way over there."

"Cool!" Sonic smiled. It was awesome that all these people were supporting Rosy. "I would go too, but I've got a house party to plan for… that you're all invited to!"

Everyone sans Knuckles was surprised.

"A party?" An excited smile grew on Rogue's muzzle. "I'm so there!"

"Me too!" CB chirped.

"I'm assuming that there will be good food there…?"

Sonic winked at the croc, nodding. "You bet!" VC patted his stomach, already daydreaming about the goodies.

"So that's the _real_ reason you two were shopping…" Rouge pondered aloud. "When is it going to be?"

"'Round five! The house is on Emerald Coast, but it's not in a popular spot. It's way out there, but you won't miss it! And Rouge, can you tell Shads about it too?"

"Sure thing, hon," she agreed. "He should be off work by then."

Sonic rounded on the guys. "And can you tell everyone at the Chaotix's that they're invited too?"

Rogue mock-saluted him. "Will do, bro!"

Knuckles was ready to get back to doing what he and Sonic had come out there for. "Now that we're done here, can we go back to the store and-"

"Actually…" The echidna didn't like that smirk on Sonic's face. "You and Rouge can go shoppin' for a bit while I go do something."

The guardian furrowed his brow. "Go do wha-"

"I'll meet you back at the store!" Those were Sonic's parting words before he zipped away, a blue streak disappearing in the distance.

Knuckles erratically waved his hands in the air. "Why am I even friends with him?!"

"Because he's a lifesaver." VC provided.

"And he's cool!" CB added happily.

Rogue chuckled. "And he's more down to earth than you seem to be, _Knuckie_." Knuckles gaped before clenching his fists while Rouge softly giggled. "So relax a bit, dude!"

The guardian gritted his teeth. "Two things! One, once you've known Sonic as long as I have, you'll understand. And _two._ " He took a step forward, irked. "Don't you _ever_ call me that again! Or I'll– _hey!_ "

Rouge had grabbed his wrists and lifted him off the ground. "Come on, sugar. Let's get back to our errand before you start a fight."

Knuckles growled. "But _he_ started it!"

"And I'm finishing it," she lightly chastised before regarding the amused audience. "See you boys later!" The bat flew off with the grumbling echidna in her grip.

CB waved before turning to the older males, who were still watching her go. "Hey… I have an idea!"

Teal and yellow irises found him. "What is it, lil' man?" Rogue inquired.

When the bee didn't respond at first, fiddling with his fingers, the bat and croc shared a confused look. "Something wrong, Charmy?" the latter asked.

The bee shook his head. "There's nothing wrong! I just…" He took a deep breath. "Can we visit Mephy and Cream before we go to the Chaotix?"

Rogue blinked before sadly smiling. "'Course we can, kiddo." He rubbed the top of CB's head, messing up his helmet a little. Rogue raised a brow at the croc. "You up for it?"

"You seriously think that I would say no?" VC replied before addressing the bee. "But don't you think that we forgot about hosing you down."

"Aw, man!" CB shuffled back and forth on his feet. "And uh... I kinda still have to go to the bathroom…"

Rogue and VC sighed in sync. "We figured."

* * *

Once Sonic reached the house he was looking for, he stepped right up to the front door and knocked. Only a few beats passed before the door creaked open, revealing a purple cat.

The speedster raised his hand in a friendly wave. "Hey, Blaze! How's it going?"

"All's well," the feline replied warmly. "It's nice to relax after all the chaos of yesterday."

"Yeah, I hear ya!" That was putting it lightly. "And thanks again for comin' back for us, Blaze. You and Silver are lifesavers!"

Blaze allowed a quiet chuckle. "Literally."

Sonic joined in with her for a moment. "So…" He drawled out. "How long are you stayin'?"

"A couple of days at least. Like I said, it's good to relax and that will be the _last_ thing I do if I return now." Blaze glanced inside the house for a moment before her golden orbs refocused on a slightly downtrodden Sonic. He knew that she had a duty, but still. "I want to stay around to make sure Cream's okay without Cheese. She's been distracted so far. And plus, the ones from the other dimension are interesting. Especially Penumbra."

The blue blur didn't expect that. "How c-"

"Blaze!" A deep raspy voice called out, and Sonic would've thought it was Shadow if he didn't know any better. "Come back! Your turn!"

A purple ear twitched at the words, and Blaze opened the door wider, silently inviting the speedster inside. "He's a sponge," she explained as she led Sonic to the kitchen of the quaint home. "Cream teaches him things, and he sucks them right up."

Sonic raised a brow at that. "So we got a brainiac in the making?"

"Not necessarily." Blaze opposed. "He's a fast learner, but him potentially having the IQ of Tails is stretching it."

"What's he learned between last night and now?"

"Because of Cream and I, he's learned how to talk more fluently, how to count to around fifty, and how to name some colors."

Sonic whistled lowly. "Wow." It made sense, though. Nummy learning their language before this point without proper help was impressive— especially coming from a point when he hadn't known anything.

"I know." Blaze understood his shock. "And we didn't even go to bed that late last night." It was then that they entered the kitchen. Sonic's attention immediately snapped to a small table which was holding a rectangular board game. Penumbra, Cream, and Vanilla were sitting in chairs, and there was an extra empty one. It had to be Blaze's spot.

Both of the rabbits had pleasantly surprised expressions on their faces, but Nummy was the first one to speak up. "Hey, Sonic!" The striped hedgie's tail was thudding against the seat in excitement. He pointed a clawed finger at the game of chutes and ladders. "Want play a game?"

"Want _to_ play a game." Blaze corrected as she reclaimed her seat.

Nummy frowned at her. "I said that." He turned to the bunny for her opinion. "Right?"

The rabbit looked like she wanted to side with the darker 'hog, but then again, she desired to teach him the right things. "You missed a word, Mr. Penumbra! Miss Blaze was right."

Penumbra seemed disappointed in himself. It wasn't long before maroon eyes found Sonic again. "Do you want to play?"

The speedster just stared at him for a second. Blaze hadn't been joking. He beamed. "Thanks, but no thanks! And I'm impressed, Nummy. You've come a long way!"

Penumbra tilted his head. "A long way from what?"

"It's a saying!" Cream enlightened him. "Mr. Sonic means that you've learned a lot since he first met you!"

"Oh… well yeah!" The tail worked overtime now. "It fun to-"

"It's."

Tail stilling, Nummy covertly sent Blaze a sharp look– Sonic assumed that the cat might be filling the role of the 'strict teacher' – before starting over. " _It's_ fun to learn new words. And numbers. And games." He gestured to the board game once more. "You really don't want to play?"

"I'm good!" Sonic scratched under his nose. "It seems like fun, but I actually came here to tell you all somethin'!"

"What is it?" Blaze questioned, pausing in rolling the die.

"Me and Tails are havin' a house party later, and I want you all to come!"

Vanilla didn't hesitate in saying, "We'll gladly go, sweetie." Cream nodded enthusiastically.

"When and where? You _are_ missing those two important facts." Blaze pointed out, her tone light and teasing.

"I was gettin' there!" Sonic defended himself in jest. "Our house is on the empty edge of Emerald Coast. It's gonna start at five!"

"…What is a house party?"

Penumbra looked lost, a shallow crease in his brow. Cream eagerly answered, "You know what a house is, so at a house, a bunch of people get together to have fun. That's a house party!"

"Okay…" The short tail started up again as Nummy grinned. "I going!"

"I'm."

Sonic inwardly laughed when Nummy's ears instantly drooped. "Words are hard."

The hero was about to leave them to their game, but he realized that someone wasn't going to get an invite to the party. He hadn't seen a specific echidna today, and he wasn't sure if any of the others would run into him. Red could be sleeping anywhere right now.

Sonic pursed his lips as Blaze rolled a six, moving her purple piece to a space with a ladder. Both Penumbra and Cream quietly whimpered as the cat jumped in front of them in the game.

Red needed to be tracked down… and in order to do that…

"Hey, Nummy." Sonic began, regaining the striped one's attention. "Don't hate me, but can I borrow you for a sec?"

Penumbra narrowed his eyes at him before regarding Blaze. "He spoke wrong! Why did not you say anything?"

Blaze handed Cream the pair of dice. "Because he's not trying to learn the language. And you're supposed to say 'didn't' there."

Nummy just stared at her before standing up and sending Cream a smile. "I'm going with Sonic. I will be back soon!"

"Okay!" Cream giggled. "We'll pause the game for you!"

"You won't have to wait long!" Sonic reassured them before waving for Penumbra to follow.

Nummy was on his heels until they made it outside. "Why do you want me?"

Sonic glanced around the yard before facing the striped hedgehog, who was peering at him with wide, curious eyes. It was funny how Penumbra was making expressions that Shadow probably hadn't made in his whole life. "I was hopin' that I could use that amazing nose of yours!"

Penumbra didn't seem to get it at first. "My nose?"

"Yep!" Sonic chirped. "Think you can track down Red for me?"

"Red…" The blue blur could almost see the gears turning in the other's mind. "…Knuckles?" Nummy marginally leaned in and sniffed the air once. "You been-" Penumbra paused before glimpsing back at the house for a second. " _You've_ been with him, right?"

Sonic should've seen that coming. "Wrong Knuckles. I'm looking for the one you met first!" Realization spread across Nummy's face, and Sonic continued. "Can you tell the difference between their scents?"

The striped hedgie tilted his head. "Maybe?"

"Well, let's find out!" Sonic motioned around the yard. Red had been here yesterday, so Nummy should be able to pick something up. "Hopefully we'll find him, because I want to invite him to the party too."

Penumbra perked up at that. "Knuckles will be sad if he doesn't get to go…" He nodded confidently. "I try– I'll try to find him." He crouched low to the ground and walked on all fours, his nose almost buried in the grass.

Sonic watched as the darker mammal searched the yard, imagining Shadow in Penumbra's place and snickering to himself. This went on for a minute or two, and Sonic was already thinking of a plan B. But then Nummy froze at a spot by the edge of the yard where the trees started.

Penumbra lifted his head up and gestured for Sonic to come. "Found smell!"

Sonic fist pumped. "Awesome!" He zipped to where the second Ultimate Lifeform was. "Lead the way!"

Nummy wasn't as excited. "It's really weak, so sorry if I lose..."

The speedster playfully nudged the striped one. "Don't doubt yourself, Nummy! I believe in ya!"

The ebony 'hog softly smiled before running ahead, his hands and feet kicking up dust. Sonic caught up to him easily, the other not wanting to lose the hero. Once Penumbra saw that the azure speedster had caught up, he increased his speed until Sonic was sure they were about to break the sound barrier.

The wind was whipping through his hanging quills as he kept in step with Penumbra, who was laser focused. It was somewhat difficult to keep up, because Nummy was ducking and dodging trees, branches, and the like with little difficulty while Sonic had to pay attention to nature's obstacles _while_ paying attention to whenever his friend unexpectedly turned on a dime. There were no warnings beforehand, and Sonic had almost run into tree trunks twice because of it.

Dare he say it, but the hero had to admit, it looked like Penumbra might have him beat with reaction times. Maybe he could get the other to spar with him later to test that theory out.

That train of thought derailed when he realized what site they were getting close to. In hindsight, it would've been a good idea to check there first, considering…

Sonic breathed in deeply as Penumbra slowed, knowing where the trail was taking them. They were getting close. Nummy's speed decreased to a measly trot as they approached the clearing. The striped hedgehog eventually stopped and peered through the foliage. "There," he whispered to his neighbor.

Sonic noticed the red echidna as well; he was standing by the two graves. "Good job," he responded just as lowly. Penumbra barely managed a smile. The blue blur then bobbed his head toward the center. "Come on. It can't hurt to say goodbye again, right?"

He stepped out into the open, and after a producing a meek whine, Nummy did too.

As soon as he heard footsteps, Red glanced over his shoulder to watch Sonic and Penumbra close the distance. He nodded in greeting once they stood beside him. "Hey."

"Hey." Sonic returned the gesture while Nummy remained silent, both of them blanketed by the somber atmosphere. However, the azure 'hog shook it off. They couldn't be sad all the time when they came here. The buried heroes didn't deserve that.

The beginnings of a smile adorned Sonic's muzzle. "Oh man, Mephy… what you missed today!" Red blinked in shock at him while Nummy furrowed his brow. Sonic went on. "Wished you could've seen it, bud! You see, Rogue, VC, and CB are all livin' in an apartment, and Rogue had to get me and Knux's help to get the kid out of the _toilet_. Can you believe that?"

Sonic snickered before drifting his attention over to where Cream and her family were. "And… I didn't get the chance to know you, but I'm sure you guys would've got a kick out of it as well. Even a G.U.N member would've thought it was funny!"

Red allowed a small chuckle. He didn't know if CB getting stuck was actually true, but he could see it happening and it was too ridiculous to make up. He understood what Sonic was doing. The sadness was oppressive, and it felt good to get rid of it.

"If only all of you were here when we won the big fight." The echidna piggybacked on the azure Mobian's idea. "The chameleon's not going to bother any of us anymore." Red silently sighed. "Rest easy."

Nummy glanced between the echidna, hedgehog, and the graves. "They… can hear us?"

Sonic and Red looked at him, but only the former answered, "Yeah."

Penumbra didn't reply immediately. He quietly stared at the graves for a few seconds before uttering, "I… feel sad. Tell Knuckles about party– about _the_ party so we leave and not feel sad."

The echidna was speechless for a moment, for that was probably the longest coherent sentence he'd ever heard the striped one say.

"He's, uh… learned a lot." Sonic provided before doing what Nummy asked. "But yeah, I'm havin' a party this evening at the new house. It's at the far end of the beach, can't miss it."

"Got it," Red said, his expression relaxing. "I'll be there. I'll try not to take a nap between then and now, because I might miss it if I do."

Sonic placed a hand on his hip with a snort. "Yeah, keep busy." He met Penumbra's gaze. "Now that we've found 'im, I gotta go back to my Knux. You know how to get back to Cream's place, right?" Nummy sniffed the air in the direction they had come before nodding. Sonic turned towards the city. "Alright, I'll see you guys later!" He gave the graves one more look. _It would've been better with all of you there._

A gust of wind signified his departure.

Subdued maroon orbs gazed on as Sonic disappeared into the trees. They then shifted over to Red. "Do you want play a game at Cream's house?"

The echidna thought for a moment. He had promised to stay busy. "Sure. Why not?"

A dark tail subtly twitched.

* * *

 **And there's chapter two! Yeah, it was another 'check up on everyone and see how they're doing' chapter, but things will start rolling _really_ soon, if you catch my drift. Oh, I want to mention that updates for this is going to be around two weeks...give or take. So yeah, not fast, but not too slow either (hopefully).**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **And we're back with another chapter! Now let's enjoy a nice and calm and totally peaceful get together, shall we?**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 3- Who's Ready to Party?**

"Oh, look, there it is!"

Shadow didn't have to look up to follow Rouge's finger; he had spotted the home they had been searching for at the same time. He was sure that it was the Faker's house because it fit the description Rouge had given him and, well, he recognized familiar faces milling around the place.

The Ultimate Lifeform simply grunted as he marginally decreased his speed, the loud chatter of the group ahead now reaching him. He usually wasn't one to bother with these types of get-togethers because they were a waste of time and cut into the time he could be using to rest. However, considering his work day hadn't been too strenuous– the Commander was still pissed that he had abused his hospital leave, but luckily nothing eventful had happened today– he figured that he would accept Sonic's invitation.

There were chairs littered around the yard, filled with talking occupants. A small table sat by the open front door with platters of food on top of the wooden surface. No one was eating yet, though some were sipping on sodas they had gotten from the cooler nearby.

Rogue was the first to notice them. After taking a sip of his drink, he waved enthusiastically, and exclaimed, "Hey! You two finally made it!" All attention was on them now, and many energized greetings were thrown their way.

"But… you are kinda late." Grey pointed out as the pair joined the crowd, his can of soda spinning in the air beside him. "It started twenty minutes ago!"

Rouge waved him off. "Don't blame me, hon." She bobbed her head over at Shadow. "I had to wait for Sir Works-a-lot to get off so I could invite him."

"Oh right, G.U.N stuff." Grey then focused solely on Shadow with a raised brow and a wide smile. " _Speaking_ of law enforcement, how was jailing Sabo yesterday? _Please_ tell me that he was crying."

Shadow scoffed. It would have been highly satisfying to see the chameleon cry, but that didn't happen. "No, he wasn't." Grey slumped in his seat. "But he wasn't happy, to put it lightly."

"Good." VC grunted before lifting his drink in a toast. "To that rotten reptile's unhappiness!"

"To his unhappiness!" The words were echoed, and those who had drinks copied the reptile's action.

"It feels great to not worry about him." Knuckles stretched in his chair, enjoying the sea breeze.

Espio nodded, sipping his drink. "You can say that again."

It was then someone walked out of the door with a plate of steaming hot dogs in his hands. Sapphire blues lit up at the sight of the newly arrived agents. "Oh!" Tails beamed. "Glad you made it, Shadow! And thanks for telling him, Rouge!" The kit promptly yelled over his shoulder, "Hey, Sonic! Rouge and Shadow are here!"

After doing so, the fox went over to the table filed with food and placed the hot dogs by the bag of buns. Not a second passed before Sonic was in the doorway with a grin on his face. He was wearing a stained apron, leading Shadow to deduce that he was one of the cooks.

"It's about time you guys got here! Way too slow, Shads!" The striped hedgehog glared at the blue blur, and Sonic took it in stride. "Don't give me that look!" The speedster gestured over to the 'dog plate. "All the food's cooked now, so…" He tore off the apron and threw it somewhere in the house. "All we have to do is wait for the rest to come! Only a few are missin'."

Shadow didn't quite believe that. While the yard held numerous Mobians, more than a 'few' were missing.

Sonic must've seen his dubious expression. He pointed behind his rival, and Shadow followed his finger. "Some of 'em are playing in the water, even though I could find a billion better and _dryer_ ways to pass the time."

The Faker's words rang true, for Shadow could see some of the others swimming in the ocean. Silver, the bees, and Vector were splashing in the deeper water while the pinkettes and TT enjoyed themselves in the shallows.

"All who's missin' now is Cream, Blaze, Red, Penumbra, and Vanilla," he heard Sonic say.

Shadow refocused on him with a thoughtful frown, Rouge beside him fetching a water bottle from the cooler and going to chat with Rogue. "The other Faker's here?" Shadow was honestly surprised, but then again, he _had_ volunteered to help Rosy, so him coming to the party wasn't that farfetched. He could just be here for the food.

"Yep." Sonic cut his eyes up towards the sky. "He's on the roof." He then cupped his mouth and yelled, "Boom!"

No answer.

"He's up there. Take my word for it." Rolling his eyes, Sonic closed the door behind him when he fully stepped out of the house. "Anyway, hopefully the others will get here soon so everyone can chow down!" He tapped his chin. "Dunno why they're late, though."

"I'm sure that it's noth-" Shadow interrupted himself once he realized something. He and Rouge had cut through Station Square to get here, but that wasn't a surprise because that was where they lived. The rabbits' home was on the outside of the city, and the fastest route to get there was to go through the metropolis.

That would've been fine, but Shadow had _no_ idea how hostile Penumbra was going to be around a whole city filled with humans.

And what made things worse was that neither of the rabbits nor Blaze knew his twin's history.

"Dammit," he cursed to himself.

Sonic blinked in confusion. "What's wrong, Shads?"

Who knew how many people Penumbra was attacking right now. He was one second away from utilizing the half-powered Chaos emerald in his quills and stopping whatever rampage his darker self had to be on. "I need to-"

"Hi, Cream and everyone!" Tails' voice made Shadow freeze for a split second. Sharp scarlets shifted over to the incoming group. Vanilla and her daughter waved genially while Blaze had a small smile on her muzzle. Red was walking with them too, and he parroted a hello. Penumbra ignored it completely, staring down the food table and nearly drooling.

"See? Shadow and I weren't the only ones fashionably late to the party," Rouge jokingly commented.

"We went the long way around the city!" Cream provided brightly. "Mr. Red said that the city was too boring, and he was right! We passed by the prettiest flowers!" She tucked a vibrant red flower more securely behind her ear.

 _Crisis averted,_ Shadow thought – the stress of potential mass panic rolling off his shoulders – before subtly nodding a silent thanks over to the echidna. Red noticed and returned the gesture.

"It was a pleasant detour." Blaze admitted, readjusting the flower pinned to her dress that was identical to the bunny's. "Sure beats pushy crowds and loud traffic."

Sonic opened his mouth to say something; but he didn't get a chance, for Grey slumped dramatically in his seat, sighing audibly. "My kitty… she…" He sniffed. "…she loved flowers too!" The psychic nearly sobbed before drowning his sorrows in the rest of his soda. VC patted his shoulder sympathetically.

Cream and Vanilla sent him sad but understanding looks.

Blaze seemed like she still didn't know how to feel about being compared to a house pet.

Red came up beside Shadow, lowly muttering, "Hopefully he won't be crying the whole time." Shadow didn't answer, but he believed that as long as Grey stayed distracted, he should be fine.

Sonic's clapping hands gained the attention of most. His smile was broad. "Alright, now that everyone's here, we can get to eatin'! So– hey!" The speedster quickly stepped over to Penumbra, who had been an inch away from grabbing a burger patty. Sonic grasped the surprised twin's wrist and wiggled a finger. "Nah uh uh, Nummy! You gotta wait. Ladies first!"

Penumbra blinked at him, ebony ears twitching. "Wait? Why?" He then marginally cocked his head. "What's a ladies?"

"What's a _lady_." Blaze's response was automatic.

Maroon orbs swiveled to her, and Nummy's brow furrowed. "I was wrong? But Sonic said–"

"Context." The feline went over and fished for a drink from the cooler while those around were amazed with the duo's interaction. "In the context you said it, you were wrong."

As Nummy took that in, Shadow watched on, impressed with how smoothly his double spoke now. With how Blaze corrected him and how Cream was smiling at the both of them, Shadow figured that they had helped.

"Okay…" Penumbra refocused on Sonic, an eye ridge cocked. The blue blur had let him go before his mini-lesson. "What's a lady, then?"

" _Who's_ a lady is a better question!" Sonic grinned before simultaneously pointing and naming. "Cream and Vanilla are, and so is Blaze. Let's not forget Rouge–" Said bat tipped her water at that. "–and Amy and Rosy."

"Speaking of…" Espio's attention was on the beachfront. "Shouldn't we tell them all to come back over?"

"I got it." VC stood up, faced the ocean, and cupped his mouth. "THE FOOD'S HOT AND READY!" All who were enjoying the waves focused on him– Rosy did so after Amy nudged her– while the others around the croc subtly winced at his loud voice. "COME BACK OVER!"

Rogue was massaging his large ears. "Next time, dude, a warning would be great."

VC cocked a brow. "What? How is 'I got it' not a warning?"

Rogue relented, knowing he had no argument. "You got me, bro. Touché."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "It still doesn't mean that you can just forget we're standing here, hon."

Sonic was digging in his ear with his pinky. "He got the job done though, and that counts for somethin'!"

"See?" VC nodded, feeling validated. "He gets it!"

"If Sonic agrees with you," Knuckles began, "you're usually in the wrong."

Sonic started to protest. "Hey! I-"

"Completely accurate," Shadow interrupted, folding his arms over his chest. The glare sent his way didn't affect him whatsoever.

Sonic angrily pouted before changing the subject altogether. He turned to Penumbra, whose flattened ears had perked back up once the speedster addressed him. " _Anyway_ , so yeah… ladies first."

Penumbra lowered his head, shoulders slumped. "Okay…" He slinked over to Shadow's side, semi-crouched. After greeting the other with a small smile, he complained, "Not fair."

Shadow eyed his sulking double before snorting. "You'll eat eventually. Be patient." The last thing he needed was another impatient hedgehog. He already had two to deal with.

Maroon irises glanced up at him, unsure. "Patient? What... does that mean?"

"It means to wait." Shadow provided, and Penumbra nodded almost immediately afterwards. He was testing the word on his tongue, and Shadow figured that he wouldn't be too hard to handle unlike the two other speedy heroes.

"Yay, everyone's here!" Amy waved to the newcomers, her legs and the bottom of her dress dripping with salt water. Rosy waved with a bright smile as well, in the same condition as her twin. They were hand in hand. Amy then cheered, "Now it's a party!"

Trotting behind them was TT, who was drying himself off by whirling his two namesakes in front of him. Vector, the bees, and Silver were following while shaking off any excess water.

"The water's _so_ nice," Silver commented warmly as they approached, wringing out one of his low hanging quills.

"You can say that again!" Vector bellowed.

"The water's so nice!" Charmy energetically echoed the psychic, causing CB to giggle and Vector to snicker.

When they reached the group, Sonic genially gestured for the girls to go ahead to the food table. "Thank you!" Rosy said in appreciation.

Sonic made a sweeping motion with his arm. **"You're welcome."**

Shadow's attention snapped to that action. It seemed like the Faker had been taught too. It made sense though. He wouldn't be surprised if most of the people here knew at least a few words. Shadow, of course, was in the minority, along with Rouge and the ones who had come from the rabbits' home, if their curious expressions were anything to go by.

As Sonic explained what the sign meant– Shadow knew by context clues – the Ultimate Lifeform's scarlet eyes shifted up to the roof of the house. Boom was visible now, sitting on the ledge and looking down with a blank expression.

Boom must've felt the eyes on him because he instantly met the striped hedgie's gaze. Shadow gave him an appreciative nod– Boom _had_ to be out of his comfort zone when he had been teaching– and the blue Mobian just frowned at him and pointedly looked away. Shadow hadn't expected anything different.

"Why Sonic move his hand?" Penumbra's voice pulled his attention back down to his doppelganger. Nummy was watching as the females lined up at the table, Rouge being the caboose. He mimicked what Sonic signed. "He said this meant you wel – you're welcome. He didn't talk." The darker striped one looked up at Shadow for help. "I'm confused."

"It's called sign language." Might as well set Penumbra straight while they waited. "It's when someone uses their hands to-" Shadow was going to say communicate, but he shortened the number of syllables for Nummy's sake. "–'talk' with another."

Penumbra peered down at his hand again before focusing on Rosy, who was preparing a hot dog. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. "It because Amy can't use her ears? They are hurt?"

"You're right," Shadow affirmed, wondering just how well Rosy was taking this. She seemed fine now, but-

Nummy released a low whine as he sniffed the air. He was gazing longfully at the food table, and Shadow figured that Penumbra's attention span was only a little better than Charmy's on a good day. "We eat now?" he pitifully asked.

" _May_ we eat now," Blaze corrected as she passed by with a full plate. "And yes."

Penumbra perked up at that, and he was about to zoom wildly for the food on the table, but a hand on his shoulder kept him in place. "Calm down," Shadow advised as a second line formed. "The last thing we need you to do is dump all of the food on the ground." The agent then strolled forward. "Now get in line behind me."

Black ears marginally drooped, but Penumbra obeyed nevertheless.

* * *

Sonic stifled a burp as he finished off his fourth chili dog, contentedly sighing and patting his full belly. Man, if there was one thing he could cook, it was hot dogs. Burgers too, but only with Tails' help. He was better with the timing and stuff.

Leaning back in his chair, his tranquil gaze floated around the yard, relaxed chatter filling the air. His lips curled upwards. It was nice, having this time to lounge around and do nothing, especially after the last few days. Everyone seemed happy – even Rosy, who was joining in conversations whenever she could, both sides signing when necessary.

Well, maybe he shouldn't say that everyone was happy. Boom was standing against the house a little away from the rest of the group, his empty plate in his hand. He had a faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the sparkling ocean.

Sonic pursed his lips, tapping his foot quietly on the ground. He then grinned when an idea popped into his head. While it was going to take a while for Boom – heck, everyone – to get used to a few vacant seats, maybe Sonic could make it better, even if only for a little while.

The scheming speedster shifted his attention over to Shadow, who was taking a sip of his drink and listening as Rouge said something to make Knuckles blush red. From embarrassment or from anger, Sonic didn't know, but he could take a good guess with how Rogue burst out in laughter.

Shadow seemed done with his food… and it looked like Penumbra was too. The striped hedgehog was sunbathing on his back beside a crisscrossed Cream. His plate was forgotten beside him as he softly smiled, eyes closed.

Sonic was impressed with Nummy. He was sure that the darker 'hog had eaten more 'dogs than he had. That was a feat in itself.

Knowing that Boom, Shadow, and Penumbra had all finished, Sonic put his plan into action. He stood up, threw his trash into the garbage, and made his voice loud and clear. "So, how'd everyone like the food?"

"Super good!" Charmy piped up. "A little burnt, but way better than Espio's pancakes!"

The purple chameleon's eye twitched.

Sonic winked at the bee. "Glad to hear!" He put a hand on his hip. "Alright, how about I spice this experience up with a little entertainment?"

"What kind of entertainment?" Grey asked with a mouthful of burger.

"The fast-paced kind!" Sonic chirped before turning to Shadow, who was sighing in exasperation. Even so, he knew that the other would never turn down a friendly competition. "So, Shads, you up for a race?"

"Even if I said no, you wouldn't leave me alone until I changed my mind," Shadow said as he placed his plate on the ground. "But if you're so eager to lose, then fine."

 _Player two has entered the game,_ Sonic thought with a smirk. "Nah, I just want to add a little of my dust to your meal," he taunted.

Rogue whistled lowly. "Oh yeah, I gotta see this."

Rosy, after TT signed the words 'Shadow', 'Sonic', and 'race', grinned at both of the hedgehogs. "We get to see who's actually faster!"

Sonic gestured to himself. "I can already tell you that it's me." Shadow scoffed at that as the hero continued. "But with this particular race, I want to prove that I'm the fast _est_." Before anyone could respond to that, Sonic regarded Penumbra. Nummy sat up at the eye contact. "So, Nummy, wanna join?"

The striped hedgie cocked his head at him, a pensive frown marring his muzzle. "Wanna join… the race?" Sonic eagerly nodded, but Penumbra's thoughtful expression didn't change. "What's a race?"

Cream was the quickest to answer. "It's when people go against each other to see who outruns everyone else! It'd be fun, Mr. Penumbra!"

Nummy blinked at her before smiling. "I'll race! I'm fast… I think?"

Sonic and Shadow were eyeing the dark Mobian, the former thinking that while Penumbra was quick, there was no way he could win this. He didn't have the experience. Sonic just wanted to see what he could do.

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his head, Sonic faced Boom, whose emerald orbs were set in a glare. Sonic ignored the heat and asked, "How 'bout you, other me? Have a little fu-"

"Hell no." Boom didn't let him finish, tone sharp and final. "I don't have to prove anything, especially to my shitty twin."

Sonic paid no mind to that jab. "But c'mon bud!" The glare spiked in intensity. "Aren't you at least a _little_ bit curious? I know that we had our fun game of tag back when we were collectin' the emeralds, but that wasn't a legit race! And plus, _have_ you ever raced against Shads? Or even Nummy?"

"No." Shadow was the first to respond. "No, he hasn't."

VC snorted. "The only competition between those two was who could give each other the most bruises."

"Yeah…" Red drawled. "It's only recently that things have been 'friendly' with those two."

"Friendly? With Stripes?" Boom derisively scoffed. "As if."

Grey gasped before grinning slyly. "I see how it is. He's _scared._ He knows that he's slower than Shadow, so he's trying to back out of it."

Boom's eyes widened before narrowing dangerously. "You listen here, you piece of–"

"You know what, Silv?" Rogue matched the psychic's expression, equally as cheeky. "You're right! I totally see it now. He doesn't want to ruin his rep."

Boom released a guttural growl. "I am _not-"_

VC began making chicken noises, and eventually most of the others followed suit, some more obnoxious than others. CB took the liberty to move like a chicken mid-air to add to the ridiculousness.

Boom felt the rage building up inside of him. There was only _one_ way to shut them all up. " _Fine_! I'll do the stupid race!" The crowd cheered, and he wanted to hit every single one of them. He'd show them all that he _wasn't_ scared and that he sure as _hell_ wasn't the slowest. Boom bared his teeth at Sonic and Shadow. "Don't complain when I blow you all out of the damn water."

"Oh, we won't complain." His double's snarky tone was really ticking him off. "Because we won't let that happen. Isn't that right, Shads?"

Shadow gave Sonic a level look. "Don't act all high and mighty." Scarlet irises then focused on Boom. "I win against _any_ Faker I come across." Boom felt his quills marginally bristled, more than determined to beat their asses. He wasn't going to lose. No way.

"Stop taunting each other and get to the race!" Amy lightly chastised, itching for this thing to start. Even though she knew who was going to win, it would be exciting to watch nonetheless.

Boom bit his tongue, swallowing a scathing retort meant for Stripes. She was right; they needed to get the dumb show on the road."Let's just get this thing over with. Where's the start?"

Sonic pursed his lips before zipping over to an empty spot not too far away from the soon-to-be audience. He dug the heel of his shoe into the sandy dirt and drew a makeshift starting line. "Here's a good place!"

Boom inwardly scowled, glaring at Shadow– even though he knew it wouldn't be effective– as they both joined Sonic. He couldn't believe he let himself get roped into this. Still, they would never have this idea again after losing horribly, so that was a plus.

Penumbra was on their heels, looking like a puppy about to play with a new toy.

"What's the track?" Boom questioned, wondering how long he had to run to claim the first place title. "Better not be across the world or some shit."

"And if it was?" Sonic teased before waving him off. He thought for a moment. "Don't worry, Boom. It's gonna be short and sweet." He held up three fingers. "Three laps from here to Vanilla's house."

"Let's go around the city instead of through." Shadow suggested. Sonic rose a confused brow at him, but Boom knew exactly why he brought it up. Penumbra was unpredictable and bringing him around humans was not a good idea. "There will be no collateral damage that way."

Sonic laughed. Boom figured that he didn't understand, because if he had, he wouldn't be laughing. "Yeah, don't want to cause any traffic jams… or accidentally destroy any buildings…"

Boom frowned at that, looking between Sonic and Shadow. What kind of races did those two have? Sure, he had caused some minor destruction in his heyday, but Mr. Goody Two Shoes… destroying property? Boom just couldn't see it.

After Sonic's chuckles dissipated, he addressed the fourth participant. "So, Nummy… you gettin' all this?"

Tail twitching, Penumbra nodded as he gazed in the direction of the rabbits' home. "Race to Cream's house and back three times."

Boom observed him, pondering if the other was just parroting the words or if he actually knew what was going on. "You _do_ know that three comes after two, right?"

"Yeah!" Nummy affirmed, his expression warm as he faced the blue hedgehog. "Cream teach– _taught_ me that and a bunch of numbers after three too." He glanced down at the dirt line before peering back up at Boom, eyes shining with interest. "How fast can you run, Sonic?"

Boom stared at him for a moment– Penumbra _had_ seen them all in action, so maybe he was talking about full-speed– before scoffing, his emerald orbs gaining arrogance as they landed on an observing Shadow and Sonic. "Fast enough to leave them in the dust."

Sonic threw that look back at him. "We'll test that theory soon enough, won't we?"

"What about you? And Shadow?" Penumbra aimed his question at the pair. "How fast you run? Can you… run from Sonic's dust?"

Boom stifled a snort. _No, Penumbra. They can't._

Shadow narrowed his eyes at Boom before stepping behind the line. "You'll see in a moment, Penumbra. Now let's start this so their losses can shut them up."

Two glares of varying intensity settled on him before Boom and Sonic stepped up to each of Shadow's sides. Nummy stood at Boom's left, crouching low to the ground.

"Who's going to count down?" Shadow asked.

The audience was having their own conversation while the speedsters talked.

Rosy was the one who started it. "I wonder who's going to win?"

Grey marginally lifted his hand, waiting for the pinkette to look at him before exclaiming, "Shadow, of course! No question."

"Are you sure about that? Sonic's the fastest thing alive!" Amy defended. "He's going to win for sure!"

"Going by that logic…" Red lazily scratched his stomach. "You can't count Boom out. They are technically the same person."

Amy couldn't refute that, opening and closing her mouth but remaining silent. Knuckles released a snort. "Whoever wins, they're going to let it go to their head. We'll never hear the end of it."

"From the Sonics? Oh yeah, definitely." VC's brow creased. "But I can't see Shadow doing that."

Rouge spoke up. "You haven't known him for long enough, hon. He boasts just as much as Blue does."

"Nummy w-won't do it," TT said from beside Rosy, cuddling one of his namesakes. "I don't think he knows what bragging is."

Tails nodded in agreement with his twin. "Yeah, it looks like he just wants to have fun! I doubt he even cares about winning."

"That's why I think he should win!" CB smiled brightly. "He seems so excited!"

"Just because you think he should doesn't mean he will." Tails tapped his chin before regarding the foreigners. "I mean… exactly how long has he been… out?"

Rogue rubbed the back of his neck in thought. "A week, maybe? Give or take?"

"Yeah, he's not winning this," Vector uttered. "Sonic and Shadow's got years on 'em and I'm sure Boom does too." He barked out a laugh. "He's gonna have fun though, I'll give him that."

"Hey!" Sonic's shout gained all of their attention. "Can someone count down for us?"

"I can do it." Blaze stood from her chair and approached the ready racers. Four pairs of eyes were on her, glinting in anticipation. Before she could open her mouth, she heard footsteps.

"Wait!" Silver ran up beside her, focusing on Shadow. "The Chaos emerald! You still have it, right?" The striped hedgehog's eyes widened in realization. The psychic softly grinned. "Can't let you use it in the race, yeah?"

Sonic gasped, whirling on Shadow as he dug the gem out of his quills. "You were plannin' to cheat? I'm ashamed, Shads!" His mocking tone wasn't hard to notice. "You've gotta be a good role model. Kids are watchin'!"

"I _wasn't_ going to cheat." Shadow bit before throwing the jewel over to Silver.

The psychic safely caught it with his powers and peered down at the rock, its red glow not as luminescent as it should be. Silver wondered how this and the eight emerald problem were going to be fixed. Though, considering that the dull emeralds hadn't affected the future – rather, a specific chameleon had caused that apocalypse – he figured that there was no rush to deal with them. Everyone deserved to relax for a while.

Oblivious to the psychic's thoughts, Boom rolled his eyes. "He says _after_ getting effing caught."

"What's cheating?" Penumbra innocently asked.

"Something only bad guys who don't want to lose do," Sonic said cheekily.

While Nummy was seemingly okay with that explanation, Shadow obviously didn't care for it. He focused on an amused Blaze. "Count down before I do something I won't regret."

The purple feline nodded. "All of you ready?"

Before any of the quartet could respond, a voice rang out behind her. "Go, Mr. Penumbra!" Cream cheerfully shouted.

"Yeah!" CB punched the air. "You can do it!"

Nummy perked up at that before giving the kids a thumbs up, his smile threatening to split his face in half.

Silver chuckled to himself and whispered to Blaze, "Was he like this the whole time at the house?"

"Be careful around him. He might give you cavities." Blaze jokingly warned before saying louder to the racers, "Alright, get ready." Three of the hedgehogs adjusted their stances, and Penumbra just looked on in interest. "Start on go. Three. Two. One… Go!"

The resulting whipping winds stirred up dust, replacing the speedsters who were once there.

* * *

Penumbra happily relished the cool air flowing through his quills as he ran, arms and legs working to push him forward. Claws uprooted short grass blades as he went, barely resisting the urge to close his eyes to fully enjoy the moment.

He had to keep them open, though. He was racing, and he couldn't win if he paid attention to everything _but_ the race.

Penumbra's loopy smile reigned itself in to morph into a determined grin. Cream would be _so_ proud of him; and so would Shadow.

Speaking of him, Shadow, Sonic, and Boom – he'd heard some of his friends call him that – were up ahead. They weren't that far away from Penumbra; he couldn't tell who was winning, though.

No one was talking as they tore through the flower-filled fields Penumbra had crossed earlier. The petals' scents assaulted his nose. They smelled great and Cream would like them and… no. No, he had to run. It felt too good to stop.

Penumbra snapped his attention from the blooming blossoms to the backs of his friends ahead. He had to run faster than them to win, right? Well, they were really fast and it was going to be hard. He didn't know that they were quicker than he was…

Maroon orbs shifted to Sonic when the blue hedgie glanced over his shoulder. Surprise flashed on Sonic's face before laughter bubbled out. "Looks like you're keepin' up with the big shots, Nummy! Good on ya!"

"Thank you!" Penumbra replied over the wind, taking the compliment in stride. He apparently was doing something very right.

Shadow and Boom peered back too. The former seemed impressed while the latter frowned deeply, muttering under his breath. Penumbra caught it. "Dammit, just when I thought I'd just be dealing with _two_ of them…"

Nummy allowed the tiniest of frowns to grow. Did Boom think that he was going to be… bad? That he wouldn't want to win too?

Lips curling up again, Penumbra pushed himself harder, muscles working to catch him up. The distance between the others and him shortened until it was nonexistent. He was between Boom and Shadow now.

Penumbra looked up at the blue speedster, wondering if he needed help with numbers. "Do _you_ forget what come after two?"

It was a genuine question, so he didn't quite understand why Boom glared at him. "Shut up," the racer mumbled.

Penumbra blinked at him before regarding a skating Shadow. "Why is he mad?"

"Is that really a surprise to you?" Shadow responded with an arched brow. "You should know by now that anger is Faker's neutral emotion."

"Like you, right Shads?" Sonic hopped into the conversation.

Shadow growled at him.

Penumbra just didn't like how it seemed only he and Sonic were enjoying this. "You have to have fun…be happy, right?"

"Oh, they're happy on the inside!" Sonic assured. "But don't focus on them, especially since I'm kickin' it into high gear!" He whooped before his feet basically blurred.

Boom scoffed. "That's what you call high gear?" He too sped up, leaving Penumbra and Sha – wait, now Nummy was alone. Shadow had simply snorted and caught up with the other two.

Penumbra was about to test the limits of his body, but then he noticed that the fields were soon going to change into forest. They were getting close to Cream's house.

He didn't get a chance to close the gap before he plunged headfirst into the foliage. Nummy's gaze was keen as he swiftly avoided whatever flew into his path. He was mostly hopping over thick roots and dodging tree trunks, not losing speed at all. He was so low to the ground that branches weren't a danger; however, he realized that the other three weren't going as fast as they avoided those reaching limbs.

Then suddenly, Penumbra wasn't in last place anymore when Shadow nudged Boom just enough to send him straight into low-hanging leaves.

Nummy jumped to the side in order to not run into his friend. Boom was frantically wiping the leaves off his face and out of his mouth. "Gah, you _fucker!_ I'm going to get you back for that, Stripes!"

"Catch back up with me, then we'll talk." Shadow didn't bother to face Boom, and Penumbra heard the blue hedgehog snarl. Sonic smirked back at Boom, and the snarls grew deeper.

After jumping over a bush, Penumbra glanced at the enraged racer and reminded him, "Be happy?" Nummy knew that he was. Even though he wasn't winning, he still liked this. Liked how energetic he felt. Liked the world around him. _Loved_ how freeing it was.

"Oh, I'll be happy alright." Boom huffed as he doubled his efforts to rejoin Shadow and Sonic up ahead. However, the trees didn't allow that. Boom wasn't the only one affected; Penumbra was leaving him behind and gaining on Sonic and Shadow.

Well, that was until they broke through into a flat yard. Sonic and Shadow looped around the rabbits' house, barely recognizing its existence, and Penumbra followed them. They weren't there a handful of seconds before diving back into the trees, heading back to the starting line.

Curses were spilling out of Boom's mouth behind him, and Shadow and Sonic were fighting for first as they – mostly Sonic – tried to send the other into a trunk.

What they were doing was mean, but…it was allowed in races, he guessed?

Out of the woods again, Penumbra looked back at the high branches and rustling leaves. If he wanted to win, he had to get mean. He could do that, just this once.

Up ahead, Sonic was having the time of his life. The wind was revitalizing him, the sun was warming him up, and he _definitely_ was going to win this race. Boom was speedy like him, but Shadow's little stunt basically just took him out of the running for first. There was no way his twin was gonna catch up.

Penumbra was holding his own; however, he didn't quite match up to the fastest thing alive's amazing speed. With Shadow, well…Sonic simply wasn't going to let his rival win.

Beside him, the Ultimate Lifeform was thinking the same thing.

"Go ahead and give it up, Shads!" Sonic called, creating paths through flowers. "I won't judge!"

Shadow gave him a level look, refusing to take the bait. "Do you really think that I would give the win to you?" If he had to, he'd rather give it to Penumbra, or even Boom.

Sonic smirked. "It was worth a try!"

Shadow didn't dignify that with a response. Instead, he looked back at their competitors. Penumbra wasn't too far back– he was impressed that he stayed in step with them at their current speed– and Boom was slightly behind Nummy, with his rage-filled gaze trained on Shadow.

If he was careful not to slow down, Boom wasn't going to catch back up. This was no different than the races he normally had. He faced forward, the world around him a blur as he focused on Faker's house coming up in the distance.

Channeling more Chaos energy in his shoes, Shadow blazed the grass under him as he inched ahead of Sonic. The lead didn't last long, however, for the blue blur shouted, "Oh no, you don't!" and they were toe-to-toe again.

Shadow didn't let their tied positions get to him. They still had two more laps to go.

He and Sonic whipped around the house, drifting and disturbing the sandy dirt. They didn't bother addressing the cheering audience as they sprinted over the starting line. They were going too fast for anything to register, anyway.

Two streaks of blue and black raced back into the fields and away from the calming ocean. Both rivals were quiet, making plans to slow the other down once they were surrounded by trees again. It was easier than trying to trip the other; their reaction times were too fast for that.

As more flowers were burnt or crushed under their feet, Sonic couldn't help but feel bad. Still, they would grow back soon enough, not like his pride if he didn't win this race.

Trees soon sprung up, and Sonic was dodging those natural obstacles once more. He was focused, trying not to trip over a root or get pushed by Shadow – he had an eye on his rival– but his focus shattered when he heard something up above.

Shadow had noticed also. They both glanced up, and their eyes widened. Penumbra was up in the canopy, hopping from branch to branch with complete ease. He was passing them, having less obstacles than those on the ground.

"You're gettin' smart on us, huh?" Sonic called up to him, and Nummy just smiled down before taking the lead.

"I'm not surprised," Shadow refocused on his own footing. Running on all fours made movement like that easier. "I can't let him win, though." His title was on the line.

Sonic understood, smirking. "Right! Because if he did, _he'd_ be the Ultimate Lifeform! Feelin' threatened, Shads?"

Shadow threw him an ugly look and said nothing else.

Once out of the brush, they noticed Penumbra already on the ground with a… leafy branch in his mouth? Nummy peered back at the two rivals, and a smirk was the only warning they got before the hefty limb was released.

Shadow was going too fast and was too _close_ to even attempt to dodge. It hit him square in the face, obscuring his vision and causing him to gasp. He fought to get rid of the branch, and when he did, he had realized that he had slowed down enough for Sonic and even Boom to pass him.

The latter speedster didn't say anything to him. He just laughed and flipped him off as he went. Shadow growled deep in his throat and glared up at Penumbra, who was rounding Vanilla's house.

 _Dammit!_

* * *

"Oh, look, they're coming back!" Tails exclaimed as he shielded his eyes from the near-blinding sun. He was airborne, his namesakes whirling like crazy.

"Who's winning?" Red inquired, lying on the ground with his hands linked behind his head.

"It's…" The kit squinted before gaping. "Penumbra's winning!"

"Penumbra?!" was echoed throughout the yard.

CB performed a front flip in the air. "Woohoo!"

Cream giggled to herself. "I knew he could do it!"

"But Sonic and Shadow are super fast!" Charmy argued. "Penumbra's faster than both of them?"

Espio shook his head. "We can't necessarily say that, since we don't know what goes on when we can't see them."

"But he _is_ in first place, and that counts for something," Knuckles reasoned. "Just hope he stays in first." He aimed his voice at the flying fox. "What are the rest of their positions?"

"Sonic's in second, Boom's third, and Shadow's last!"

Rouge blinked in surprise. "Wow." She swirled her water. "Shadow can't be too happy about that."

"I thought he and Nummy would be reversed!" Grey scratched his head with a frown. "Shadow's choking! He's blowing it!"

"They have one more lap," Vector said just as the racers arrived, winds picking up as each one practically flew across the line. The croc's lips curled as an idea came to him. "Wanna place bets on the winner? If you think it's gonna be Penumbra, vote-"

Grey scoffed. "No, thanks. Last time I voted for something, it didn't even matter."

The air went silent. TT even paused in his crude signing to look at him, fingers stilling.

The psychic instantly regretted his words. "Too soon?" Receiving no response, he nodded to himself. "Too soon."

Cream tilted her head at him. "What are you talking about, Mr. Grey?" Charmy and CB were wondering the same thing.

"Nothing!" Amy hastily answered, glaring at the white hedgie who found the drifting clouds interesting. "Don't worry about it, Cream."

She nodded. "Okay, Miss Amy! If you say so!"

"I don't want to think about _him_ ever again." VC grumbled sharply. "If you want to forget that he ever existed, say 'I'."

"I!"

* * *

"That was a cool little trick you did back there!" Sonic shouted to Nummy, passing flowers and hoping that he could get back in first before they made it back to the house.

"Thank you!" Penumbra replied in a jolly tone.

Sonic inwardly chuckled. That branch attack was truly unexpected, and he was more than glad that he hadn't been the target. Now Shadow was somewhere behind him with Boom… he didn't bother turning around. He needed all of his attention on what was in front of him.

The hero strained his well-trained muscles, slowly but surely getting closer to Penumbra. Almost there…almost there…and…

Nummy was gone.

Sonic was confused for a split second, but then he hit the tree line and figured that the striped one had jumped up into the canopy again. Sonic pursed his lips in thought before grinning.

He hopped up high in the air, following in Penumbra's footsteps. Two red shoes carefully landed on a branch before pushing forward. Sonic made sure to mirror Penumbra's actions so he wouldn't pick a wooden limb that would break – that would be just his luck.

Sonic wasn't gaining on the other, and he was beginning to think that this might not have been a great choice. Unlike the ground, where he didn't have to think about his next step, being up in the trees made him actually _plan_ while running, and, well...being above the ground was almost worse than being right on top of it.

Penumbra was slowly putting distance between the two, and that wouldn't do at all.

Smirking, Sonic abruptly called out, "Hope you don't mind me trailin' after your breadcrumbs!"

Penumbra's head whipped back so fast in shock that he misstepped and took a tumble to the grassy floor. "Oops!" Sonic wasn't apologetic at all, but he didn't need to be. Nummy had landed on his feet and barely lost any speed.

"Mean!" Penumbra pouted.

"Effective!" Sonic mended as he continued his tour of the canopy. When his disjointed track ran out, he reacquainted himself with the ground only to nearly jump out of his skin at the voice suddenly behind him.

"Don't think you're going to win this."

Sonic took his eyes off of Nummy, who was a bit ahead of him, to focus on a smirking Boom. Sonic quirked a brow, mirroring his twin's expression. "And what makes you think that?"

"This!" Leaves were suddenly slammed into his face, and he was left sputtering. "Eat your effing greens!"

Boom's smirk widened as he passed his struggling double, watching a determined Shadow try to do the same. However, Sonic regained his wits, and they were now tied for last. That wasn't Boom's problem, though. His problem was a specific striped hedgehog.

As he rounded the quaint home, quills blowing and breaths growing heavier, his mind whirled to think of a plan to rip first place out of Penumbra's grasp. Following him up in the trees wasn't going to close the gap, but running on the ground wasn't good either.

Boom stared at the incoming trees before it came to him. He could use his current speed to his advantage by making himself a projectile. He had played pinball before, so he was about ninety-five percent sure that it would work.

Or he would look like a damn idiot.

When Boom met the trees, Penumbra was already up in the leaves. The blue hedgie curled into a ball and aimed at the nearest trunk, hopefully at the right angle. He made sure not to spin too much. The last thing he needed to do was _slow_ down by slicing down the forestry.

He ricocheted off the first tree, and like he had planned, he turned into a living pinball. He was bouncing from trunk to trunk, accelerating all the while. He might have bruises all over him after this, but it would be worth it.

Once he felt like he was getting too low to the ground, he straightened himself back out and looked over his head. Penumbra was behind him. Hell yeah!

But… he was still surrounded by trees. He hadn't quite made it out.

Scowling, Boom pushed through the rest of the annoying greens, and after clearing them, he felt a presence at his side. Nummy was smiling up at him. Damn those stupid bushes. "We are winning!"

"Wrong. _I'm_ winning." Boom fought for his legs to move faster, and he moved ahead only for Penumbra to return to his side a couple seconds later. Boom kept pushing and Nummy kept catching up and _why_ the hell was he still smiling?

Behind them, Shadow wanted to win with every fiber of his being. However, just wishing it to happen wasn't enough. He wasn't going to pass them. He had even copied what Boom did – Sonic as well – but he was still too far behind. There was nothing but a flat stretch of land. It was over.

He gritted his teeth. If only he dodged that damn branch…!

"At least you didn't nearly choke on them." Sonic was at his right; the rivals were fighting for third at this point. The hero had a small smile on his muzzle as he breathed out, "Those two… are unpredictable, aren't they?"

"Understatement of the century."

* * *

As soon as Penumbra crossed the line, he dug his heels into the dirt to decrease his speed. Multiple tracks were made in the earth as he eventually came to a stop. His breaths were quick and shallow, the adrenaline in his veins wearing off.

After a moment, he stood on two feet and faced the astonished crowd. His muscles were throbbing, but that didn't ruin his high. He would definitely race again if it was always that fun.

Boom was panting, doubled over with his hands on his knees. "Who won?" he asked the onlookers just as Shadow and Sonic joined them, screeching to halts as well.

Half of the gazes were on Penumbra, and half were on Boom. Blaze was the one to answer. "The winner is… both of you. It was a tie."

"We both win!" Nummy exclaimed happily before bounding over to him and holding up a hand.

Boom rolled his eyes and gave the weakest high-five known to man. This wasn't the best outcome, but he could accept it– this time.

Penumbra went over to hug Cream and high-five CB as energetic congratulations were thrown at him. After patting the striped winner on the back, Rogue approached Boom. "Good job, Blue!"

"Yeah!" Grey piped up. "Talk about an upset!"

Boom glared at him as best as he could as he rested his overworked muscles.

"And now you have all the bragging rights, bro!" Rogue threw a recovering Sonic and Shadow a jeering smirk. "At least against those two."

Sonic wasn't having it. He jabbed a finger in his twin's direction. "No, he doesn't! He and Nummy cheated!"

Boom tsked. "Nice try, asshole. You two were the ones who started it!" He focused on a frowning Shadow when Sonic sulked. "Especially you."

"Fine then." Shadow's voice was breathy. "Next time it will be a clean race."

"There won't have to be a next time." Taking a deep breath, Boom headed for the cooler to get something to drink. "The results will be the same." Smug emerald orbs met scarlets. "There's no point in running a second test."

"And there it is." Knuckles grunted. "Are you going to hold that over their heads forever?" Boom threw him a 'what kind of question is that?' look, and the echidna rolled his eyes. However, a faint smirk formed on his face. "Well, make sure I'm there every time you make Sonic feel miserable." He ignored Sonic's betrayed expression as Boom snorted in amusement.

"That was fun to watch!" Rosy commented from her spot. She would love to see another race, especially since the high-paced action made up for her missing sense... at least temporarily. "I honestly didn't see that coming." Penumbra smiled at her while Boom inwardly huffed. "What are we going to do now?"

Sonic thought for a minute before grinning at her. "You in the mood for s'mores?"

Rosy was all for it, and apparently everyone else was too, their excited gasps filling the air. Shadow and Boom hadn't said anything, but Sonic knew good and well that those two wouldn't pass the treat up.

"Alright! I'll get the wood so we can get to cookin'!"

* * *

Cream yawned as she entered her house, rubbing her tired eyes. Vanilla smiled softly as she closed the door behind a spent Blaze and Penumbra. "I'm surprised that you made it all the way back here without falling asleep, sweetie. It's past your normal bedtime."

The bunny lightly giggled. "I didn't get tired until I stepped in here, Mama!" Her gaze was warm as she faced the feline and hedgehog. "And plus, there's no way I can be sleepy while being with Miss Blaze and Mr. Penumbra!"

"They are fun…" Vanilla agreed, tone fond. She then gently grabbed her daughter's wrist. "But they'll still be here tomorrow, Cream. I want you to have a good night's sleep, okay?"

Cream didn't get upset. She just waved at the pair as the rabbits made their way to the mother's bedroom. "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" Penumbra echoed, tail twitching.

Blaze waved back, lips slightly turned upwards. "Don't let the bedbugs bite. We'll see you two in the morning."

The bunny's sleepy smile broadened, and Vanilla addressed them as well. "Sleep tight, you two." The mother/daughter duo left the living room.

Blaze figured that was her cue to head for Cream's bedroom, which she was borrowing during her stay. As with the rabbits, the party had worn her down. She swore that Sonic had so much energy because he sucked it out of other people.

"I'm going to turn in as well." She told Penumbra, drained maroon orbs focusing on her now. Blaze looked him over. He was slouched– more than usual– and his expressive stare was somewhat duller. "That was an impressive race back there." Nummy's ears perked up at that, and a relaxed grin spread across his face. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Maybe…" He yawned wide, showing off his sharp canines. "It was really fun… I sleepy."

" _I'm_." Blaze couldn't help herself as she walked away. She felt slightly exasperated eyes on her back. "Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Blaze." Nummy watched her until she disappeared, lazily scratching his head under his rustled quills. She was nice, a different nice than Cream, but still nice.

Eyelids heavy, Penumbra padded over to the couch he had claimed at his bed. There was a brown blanket hanging over the back of it. He collapsed onto the soft cushions and grasped the cover, dragging it over his body. Nummy curled into the comfy pillow under him, and the warmth instantly lulled him to sleep.

The striped hedgehog was startled awake a few hours later by near-silent knocks on the front door. Penumbra's head shot straight up, ears swiveling in the door's direction. The knocks were more like halfhearted taps, but he heard anyway.

Sitting up, he wiped the sleep from his eyes. He then stood, the blanket laying forgotten on the sofa. He noticed that no sunlight was filtering through the windows, so it was still nighttime.

He wondered who was visiting. Was it Shadow? Sonic?

Nummy shook himself, bed-headed quills somewhat falling back into place. His footsteps were quiet as he approached the door. The knocking had stopped. Penumbra tilted his head curiously before unlocking the knob – he'd seen Vanilla do it a couple times before – and pulling open the door.

He froze, eyes wide.

His earlier guesses were wrong. Very wrong.

Standing in front of him was someone who was supposed to be dead.

But before Penumbra could say anything, Mephiles collapsed into his arms, unconscious.

* * *

 **Oh, hello cliff hanger, nice to see you again. Had a nice vacation?**

 **That Speedhunter- I hope the cliffy cleared up any confusion!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **Hello once again! Sorry for that cliffhanger – but not really – so let me make up for it by giving you all the next chapter!**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 4- Second Chances**

Blaze was dragged out of the hold of sleep by the sound of a door opening. The noise had been quiet, but she was just enough of a light sleeper for it to jar her awake.

The feline lifted her head from the pillow with a small frown, perking her ears. Drowsiness leaving her, she realized that it was still in the middle of the night, for it was pitch black.

Her vision adjusted to the darkness soon enough. She slowly sat up, her loose fur falling over her shoulders. Blaze wondered what was going on, doubting that Vanilla or Cream would be awake at this time. What was Penumbra doing, then?

She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stood up before aiming to leave Cream's room, her footsteps near silent. The walls around her gained an orange hue, a flickering flame taking residence in her upward facing palm.

Peering down the hallway, she saw that Vanilla's door was still shut. She was right in thinking that they weren't up.

Blaze's brow furrowed when she heard shuffling in the living room. She made her way down the short hallway. "Penumbra?" she called quietly, making sure not to wake the rabbits.

The hedgehog replied just as softly. "Quiet, Blaze! He's sleeping!"

 _He?_

Her curiosity through the roof, Blaze quickened her steps until she could see Penumbra in the darkened room. The first thing she noticed was her flame reflecting in his bright and happy eyes. The second was the limp body leaning heavily on him, Penumbra's arms supporting the weight.

Blaze saw the striped quills and instantly identified the new guest. She kept her voice low, confusion driving her to ask, "Penumbra, what happened to Sha-" The rest of her words got lodged in her throat. She was wrong. It wasn't Shadow.

There were stripes on the creature's quills, yes, but they weren't red. There was also scarring on the relaxed face – it being heavier around the eyes – and on the upper body. She also noticed how dirty he was, as soil was packed into his quills and fur.

He looked like he had been pulled right from the grave.

Anger and bewilderment sparked within her. "Penumbra!" she hissed sharply, making the addressed pause. He was cocking his head at her in confusion, his smile melting away. Blaze didn't give him the chance to respond. "Did you...dig him up? Give me _one_ reason why you did that. He isn't supposed to be here!"

Nummy peered down at the slumped body before meeting her gaze again and shaking his head. "I didn't!"

Blaze closed the distance between them, wondering why Penumbra was denying what was obvious. She stopped beside the red-striped hedgehog and took in a face she hadn't seen in a while, a face she didn't think she'd ever see again. Still, the feline didn't give him much attention, as her disbelief was trained on Penumbra. "There isn't any other way he could've gotten here, Penumbra. You had to-"

"You didn't hear him hit the door?"

Blaze would've thought that the other was messing with her if not for the open and innocently curious expression on his face. The words he said sunk in. "Are you telling me that he _knocked?_ "

Penumbra blinked at her. "Knocked?" Then he nodded, his smile reforming. "Yes, he knocked!"

Blaze narrowed her eyes. "Penumbra, listen to me. Mephiles is _dead_ , so he doesn't belong-"

"He isn't!" Nummy cut her off, sounding sure of himself. He repositioned Mephiles so he could be supported with one arm. Then he grabbed Blaze's unoccupied wrist and placed it on the limp one's chest. "He moves!"

Blaze was about to yank her hand away because Penumbra was spouting nonsense, and because she was touching a _dead body_ , but then she realized that for the second time in the last five minutes, she had been wrong.

Her eyes widened at the warmth she felt against her fingers, at the subtle rise and fall of the chest, and at the steady heartbeat that made her own pulse skyrocket. Blaze eventually pulled her hand away, her breath hitching. She met Penumbra's expectant gaze, many emotions clashing within her. "He's alive…" Her voice lost the strength it once had, quieting to barely a whisper.

Penumbra didn't know what 'alive' meant, but it looked like Blaze finally believed him. His smile grew wider. "Alive! And sleep." He added that last part as an afterthought. He wrapped two arms around Mephiles again, going back to what he was doing before Blaze showed up. His friend was sleeping, so he needed a soft place to lay down.

Nummy took a step toward the couch he previously had occupied. However, he was stopped by Blaze's outstretched arm. His brows scrunched together. Blaze's face was blank, and her jaw was tense. Was she not happy about Mephiles being back? "What-"

"Lay him on the floor." Her voice was off too. It was strained and nothing like he thought it should be. "Don't get the couch dirty."

Penumbra frowned as he glanced down at the hard carpet. "But-"

Her gaze was hard to read, but her tone was final. "He'll be _fine_ , Penumbra." She glimpsed at Mephiles again before reaching over and taking the blanket on the couch. She laid it out on the ground and gestured at the spot. "Put him here."

Penumbra still thought that the couch would be better, but he complied anyway. He carefully laid Mephiles down on the blanket, face up. Blaze took a step back from him, silently staring, and Nummy looked up at her from his crouching position. "You – you're not happy that he's back?"

"It's not that, Penumbra. It's just-" Blaze harshly exhaled. "This isn't normal." Her cloudy yellow irises drifted over to the open front door, and Penumbra followed her gaze. He should close it to keep out the cold. "Penumbra, I need you to go get Sonic." Ears twitching, he returned his focus to the cat. She was still looking at Mephiles. "Do you remember the way to his house?"

He was going to ask which Sonic, but she cleared his uncertainty up by mentioning the home. "I do." Penumbra scooted closer to Mephiles' body. "But why? I want stay – to stay with Mephiles until-"

"Sonic will be happy to see him. It'll be a nice surprise."

Penumbra perked up at that. Sonic _would_ be glad to see that Mephiles was back. "Okay! I'll get him!" He left his friend's side and made his way to the door. He waved at Blaze before trotting out, closing the door behind him.

Blaze watched it swing shut before eyeing the body at her feet. Mephiles was peacefully sleeping – or unconscious for all she knew – not bothered at all by their conversation. His breathing was steady, and his body was relaxed.

A frown marred Blaze's muzzle as a whirlwind tore through her mind. How was Mephiles alive? From what she was told, he had been at ground zero when an explosion went off. He and Boom had been badly wounded, him mortally so. So how…

Her train of thought was disrupted at the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. "Blaze, honey?" The cat looked up to find Vanilla entering the living room, her eyes tired yet concerned. "Is everything alright? I heard you and Penumbra-" She cut herself off with a loud gasp, covering her mouth with her hands when she recognized the hedgehog on the floor. Vanilla swallowed audibly. She stepped forward and gave Blaze an overwhelmingly befuddled look. "Why-"

"It isn't what it looks like, Ms. Vanilla." Blaze motioned to Mephiles' rising chest, and Vanilla froze in shock. "Penumbra said that Mephiles knocked at the door. I assume that he fell asleep or unconscious in Penumbra's arms." Blaze paused as the mother rabbit got even closer, her attention on the plentiful scars on the other's face. A crazy thought ran through the feline's mind. "Is...Is there any chance that he was...buried alive?"

Vanilla shook her head adamantly. "I wasn't there...when they found him, but they wouldn't have done that if they weren't sure." Her voice was shaky as she sat on the couch. Blaze absently nodded. The rabbit spoke again, a hint of admiration in her tone. "I don't know how this happened, but Cream will be overjoyed and so would Penumbra. He saved them, and…" She trailed off after realizing that someone was missing. "Where is Penumbra?"

Blaze couldn't feel her positivity just yet, as the situation was just too strange. "I sent him out to get Sonic because this...isn't something you see every day."

Vanilla seemed to agree, though she hadn't taken her gaze off of Mephiles' injuries. She was subtly frowning in worry. "I can't imagine the pain…"

Blaze couldn't either, and she was reluctant to try. She went to sit by the mother, continuously watching the hedgehog just in case he woke up. "Is Cream awake?"

Vanilla shook her head with a small giggle. "She's a heavy sleeper, the sweet thing."

"Should we wake her?"

Vanilla thought for a moment. "Let's wait until the morning. Maybe he'll be awake before she is, and that would be an amazing reunion, wouldn't it?"

Blaze nodded, hoping that would be the case.

* * *

Tails yawned widely as he climbed out of bed, struggling to keep his eyes open. He rubbed them as he left his room, wondering who exactly was knocking at their door so late at night. Sonic was nowhere to be seen as he reached their sparsely furnished den. He probably wouldn't wake up until their door was torn down.

The kit's namesakes were dragging behind him as he yawned again. It had better be something important. Tails shuffled over to the front door of his new home and unlocked it, then revealing the knocker. "Shadow? What are you – No, wait…" Tails blinked a few times, taking in the expressive eyes and slight smile. "Penumbra? What do you need?"

Nummy's voice was quiet yet brimming with energy someone shouldn't have at one in the morning. "Is Sonic here? I want talk to him!"

"Um." Tails had no idea what this was about, and it was even weirder that Penumbra was here by himself. "Can I take a message?" He stifled a third yawn, struggling to stay awake. "He's still asleep."

Black ears twitched. "A message?"

Tails resisted the urge to sigh. "Uh, what do you want me to tell him?"

"Mephiles is back!"

It took a while for those words to register, but once they did, Tails blinked up at him with doubt in his mind. Some of his drowsiness was fading away. "What? Nummy, he's…" Tails bit his lip. "He can't come back. He's gone, remember?"

Penumbra shook his head, smiling like he knew something the fox didn't. "No! He at Cream's house. I let him in and he's sleeping!"

"Whoa, wait." Tails frowned, the cobwebs being dusted off his brain. "Mephiles is at... _Cream's_ house? Alive?"

Nummy nodded excitedly. The kit's sleepiness was steadily being replaced with shock. "Yes! Blaze want me to bring Sonic over!"

Tails gaped like a fish out of water. It was one thing if Penumbra made his own decision to come here, but if _Blaze_ told him to come, then something was seriously up. So Mephiles was _really_ back? Like living and breathing and not _dead_ , back? What did this mean?

He held up a hand at Penumbra, taking a half step back. "Wait here! I'll go get him!" Tails twirled his two fluffy appendages, more than awake now. He sped back through the den and went straight for Sonic's undecorated bedroom. The unlocked door flew open unabashedly.

"Sonic!" Tails called out to the lump in the middle of the bed. The lump didn't even flinch at his name. Tails saw this coming. He hovered over to the bedside, seeing Sonic's sleeping face peeking out of the covers. The fox shook the hedgehog's shoulder and tried again. "Sonic! Sonic, wake up!"

"...Huh? Whozzat?" Sonic was slowly gaining consciousness, emerald eyes eventually focusing on the kit. "Tails…?"

The fox ceased contact, wringing his fingers together. "Yeah! You gotta get up!"

Sonic took his time sitting up, the blanket bundling up in his lap. He made a noise in his throat as he stretched. Lazily scratching his back, Sonic questioned, "Where's the fire, Tails?" He peered out of the nearest window, raising a brow. "In the middle of the night?"

"It's at Cream's house!" Tails exclaimed before explaining, "Mephiles is back from the dead, Sonic!"

Sonic stared at the fox strangely, coming to a conclusion quickly. "Tails, did you have a nightmare? Or a dream, depending on which Mephiles…" He was one second away from offering up his bed to comfort the kid, but Tails grabbed his arm.

"I didn't have a nightmare, Sonic!" Tails pointed behind himself in the direction he left Penumbra. "Nummy is waiting outside right now! He told me that Mephiles is at Cream's house _sleeping_." Tails must've sensed Sonic's doubt, because he continued, "He said that Blaze wanted you there! She wouldn't do that if this wasn't for real!"

Sonic hopped out of his bed in a single move, putting on his shoes that were always close by. "So Mephiles is back, huh?" It wasn't the strangest thing to happen to them, but was it only him? "Did he say anything about the other Cream and Vanilla?"

Tails' eyes widened. He had forgotten about them. "No, he didn't say anything…"

Sonic pursed his lips, his shoes now secured. It was _just_ Mephiles? Was it because of the extra emerald making things out of whack or something? Or…

Sonic glanced at the fox. "Where's Nummy?"

Tails was already flying away from him. "Outside our door!"

Sonic jogged after him, turning a couple corners before spotting Penumbra standing right where Tails said he left him. Nummy brightened at the sight of the blue hedgehog.

Sonic smiled at him as he slowed to a stop, Tails at his side. "Heya Nummy! So, Tails was tellin' me about Mephiles being at Cream's house. Is that true?"

Penumbra nodded. "No need to be sad anymore! Mephiles is back! But he's sleeping, so you have to be quiet."

"Gotcha!" Sonic gave a thumbs up, and the striped hedgehog's expression warmed. "But before we go, quick question." Penumbra cocked his head, ears attentive. "Did you dig him up, by any chance?" Sonic knew that it was a weird question, but Penumbra knew where the grave had been and he didn't know the ins and outs of common sense yet.

Nummy seemed amused by the inquiry. "Blaze asked the same thing. He hit – he knocked on door!"

Tails resisted the urge to gape. "He walked to Cream's house by himself?"

"Let's just go see this for ourselves," Sonic suggested, his gut twisting at the memory of Mephiles and Boom lying in the middle of that ruined room.

Penumbra smiled. "Okay!"

* * *

Sonic and Tails were speechless as they stood in the middle of Vanilla's living room, silently observing Mephiles' scarred yet breathing body.

Penumbra was sitting on the ground by the other striped hedgehog, watching him as well. Blaze and Vanilla were still on the couch, waiting for the boys to assess the situation.

Tails couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Yes, Penumbra did tell them that Mephiles was _alive_ , but he still didn't expect it to actually be true.

The fox chewed his cheek before glancing at Sonic, who had a pensive expression on his face. "Sonic…" Tails then blinked in shock when the blue hedgie crouched down beside Mephiles, extending a hand toward the relaxed face. "Sonic, what are you doing?"

"Just checkin' something." When his fingers were an inch from an eyelid, Sonic hesitated. Mephiles' face had taken the brunt of the explosion, proven by the scars. Even his eyes hadn't been saved from the blast. Sonic steeled himself before gently prying a lid open. He stared in disbelief at the unresponsive green eye. "That's, wow."

It was rare that something shocked Sonic speechless. Blaze sat forward in interest. "What is it?"

Sonic looked for another moment before retracting his hand, leaning on his haunches. "He has eyes again."

Vanilla latched onto the last word uttered and drew the dreadful conclusion. "Again? Did the explosion…" She couldn't get it all out, the thought of it making her choke up.

Sonic distractedly nodded, wondering exactly _how_ this was happening. "When we found him, it wasn't pretty. They... had been burned out." His voice was a heavy whisper now.

"Burned – and they grew _back?"_ Tails asked incredulously as Sonic stood back up.

Blaze didn't think that this situation could get any more bizarre. "But that's impossible!" She fought to keep her tone down, remembering the sleeping bunny in the back.

"Almost nothing's impossible these days." Sonic chuckled flatly. This whole thing reminded him of Shadow's little scare, but his situation had been different. That involved the hospital, chaos energy, and freaking miracles. This...was something else entirely.

"Are you happy he's back?" Penumbra peered up at him.

Sonic smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm happy. It's really weird that this is happening, though."

Penumbra furrowed his brow. "Why?"

"The dead aren't supposed to come back, Nummy." _Like this_ , Sonic didn't add because the other wouldn't understand.

While Nummy processed that, Tails didn't know how to feel about this. He knew that he should feel relieved that _somehow_ , one of their friends was back. But something didn't seem right to him. "What do we do now?"

Sonic hummed for a second before addressing Vanilla. "Do you mind if we stay over? Y'know, so we'll be here if he wakes up."

"Of course I don't mind, honey." Vanilla stood up with a soft smile. "I'll get you two some blankets so you can be comfortable." She gave Mephiles a fleeting look before leaving the room.

Blaze looked down at the prone hedgehog, still partly convinced this was some absurd dream. "What do we make of this? How could this happen?" she asked either of them, unable to come up with an answer herself.

Tails' mind raced for a proper response, but it remained blank.

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we just have to wait until he wakes up, yeah?"

Tails' namesakes twitched. "Yeah." Blaze nodded in agreement, because maybe Mephiles could provide the _why_.

"Do we tell friends about Mephiles?" Penumbra had been halfway listening to their conversation, picking a piece of charred glove on Mephy's hand.

He subtly frowned at the look the other three shared, not knowing what it meant.

Sonic scratched his nose. "Everyone's sleepin' right now, Nummy! Let's wait until the morning." They didn't need mass excitement at the moment – Sonic still needed a couple of more hours of sleep to get his fill – and it would be best to wait until Mephiles woke up. They needed to figure out his...mindset before spreading the news.

"Okay." Penumbra was only disappointed for a quick moment. Everyone else would know eventually, and he realized that it would get loud if the rest of their friends came over. Mephiles needed sleep.

Vanilla returned at that point, handing Sonic, Tails, and Penumbra a blanket each.

"Thank you!" Tails and Penumbra said at the same time. Nummy wrapped himself up and curled up at Mephiles' side, a small space separating them.

Vanilla softly giggled. "I was a bit worried about room, but he seems perfectly fine where he is." She regarded Sonic and Tails. "Are you two alright with sharing a couch?"

"That's fine! It's more than enough room!" Sonic said warmly. He and Tails had dealt with less before.

Vanilla smiled and took a step in the direction of her apartment, waving back at them. "I hope you all sleep well, and I'll see all of you in the morning. When the sun's out, that is."

"I hear ya!" Sonic grinned.

"Good night," Blaze gently replied.

When the rabbit left, Blaze stood up. "I should try to get a couple more hours as well. We don't know what kind of morning we're going to have."

Sonic plopped down on one side of the couch, Tails on the other. The kit covered himself, thinking that the next morning was going to be hectic whether or not Mephiles woke up. "Yeah, better get as much sleep as you can!"

Blaze cast her gaze at Mephiles. "I doubt I'll get much with him here, but I'll try." She was about to follow in Vanilla's footsteps, but she paused. "If he wakes up during the night, come get me."

Sonic yawned as he got himself comfortable. "Gotcha, Blaze! I'll keep a good eye on him."

Tails couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I think you forget how heavy you sleep, Sonic. Penumbra would probably wake up before you do." At the sound of his name, Nummy's ear twitched, but his eyes remained closed.

"Like _you_ can talk, Tails."

Blaze lightly shook her head in jest. "If that's the case, I'm sure he'll wake all of us." She gave them a nod. "Sleep tight."

Before Blaze could disappear to the back, Sonic called out to her. "Hey, wait." She raised a questioning brow at him, and the hedgehog asked, "How do you feel about this? About seeing him again, I mean?"

Blaze pondered the inquiry for a moment. "Honestly, it's a bit jarring." Her attention dropped to the unconscious hedgehog again. "I'll get used to him eventually, though."

"It was the same when we first met him!" Tails piped up. It didn't take long to get used to the friendly hedgie, surprisingly.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Blaze said, wondering how she would've reacted seeing this Mephiles for the first time. Instead of thinking about that and keeping her mind more awake, she rose a hand in a wave. "Have a good night."

"You too!" Sonic and Tails chorused as they watched her walk off. The kit then stretched a bit, the softness of the couch reeling back in his drowsiness. "Tomorrow will be interesting for sure."

"You can say that again." Sonic's eyes shifted to the blue-striped hedgehog, feeling his eyelids getting heavy once more. "And hopefully it's the 'good' interesting."

His only answer was a soft snore from Penumbra, Tails already off to dreamland.

Sonic snickered to himself as he drifted off, keeping nothing but positive thoughts in his mind.

* * *

When Sonic woke up again, it was to the sound of raspy coughs.

His eyes flew open before they squinted against the sunlight filtering in through one of the windows. The azure hedgie rubbed any remnants of sleep away.

He blinked a few times before sucking in a breath, seeing Mephiles laying on his side, facing away from him. Penumbra was awake too, sitting up with his tired yet concerned gaze on the shadow hedgie next to him.

Sonic fought to get out of the blanket he'd wrapped himself in, careful not to kick a still sleeping Tails. He hastily stepped over Mephiles and squatted by Penumbra so he could get a good look at his face.

Mephiles' eyes were pinched closed as he wheezed. Each cough sounded dry, which made sense; after all, he'd been dead for _days._

"Hey, Nummy," Sonic whispered to his neighbor. "Can you get some water for him?"

Penumbra immediately scrambled to his feet, blanket dropping to the floor.

When he left the room, Mephiles' coughing only got worse. Thinking on his feet, Sonic firmly grabbed the other's arm and sat him up. Sonic settled beside Mephy and patted his back in attempt to help.

Penumbra came back in record time holding a water bottle. "Thanks!" Sonic said as he took it and unscrewed the top. Nummy wasn't paying him any attention anymore, his focus on the suffering Mephiles.

Sonic glanced over his shoulder as he opened the bottle, seeing Tails start to stir. "Hey, Tails...Tails!"

"Huh?" The kit cracked open an eye and then instantly snapped awake at the sight of Mephy. "Oh!"

"Can you go get Blaze?"

Eyes wide, Tails hopped off the couch and jogged away.

Sonic then brought the mouth of the bottle up to Mephiles' quivering muzzle. He didn't know if the other would respond to him, but he'd give it a try. "Hey, Mephy, I got some water if you need it!"

His words fell on deaf ears. Mephiles' eyes were still closed as coughs wracked his system. Both Sonic and Penumbra frowned. Moving on to plan B, the azure hero took one of Mephy's hands and wrapped it around the bottle. He made the other push it against his mouth and take a sip.

Apparently, that was all Sonic needed to do. Mephiles took the bottle on his own accord and tilted his head back, gulping the liquid down.

Penumbra smiled in relief, softly clapping at this achievement.

Sonic looked on curiously as Tails returned with an attentive Blaze, their eyes glued on Mephiles.

"Has he said anything yet?" the feline asked as she tied her hanging fur up.

Sonic shot her an amused look. "If he had, it would've been a miracle!"

Blaze resisted the urge to roll her eyes, having forgotten Mephiles' mute status. "You know what I meant, Sonic."

The azure hedgehog snickered before watching the water bottle steadily empty. "Nah, he's been too busy hackin' up a lung."

Tails went to stand beside Sonic, watching with concern as Mephiles downed the liquid like it was his only lifeline. It could very well be because dehydration had to have set in; and who knew how hungry he was.

Mephiles drank every last drop before slumping forward, panting.

Penumbra waited a bit before venturing, "Mephiles?"

Mephy didn't want to respond to his name at first. Many feelings were attacking his body at once, and he needed to get those straightened out before he involved his eyes in anything. He was so sore and tired that it took all he had not to fall back onto the floor. However, at the same time, all his nerves were wired and excited like he was about to run into a battle, and these contrasting feelings crashed more exhaustion into him.

But he couldn't go back to sleep – not now, anyway. He needed answers.

Like why he was covered in dirt, for example.

Mephiles cracked his eyes open, the action taking too much out of him. He inwardly flinched at the bright light that poured into them. The blue-striped hedgie blinked a couple of times to focus, and he soon realized that he was staring right into expectant maroon irises.

The hedgehog in front of him perked up. "Mephiles!" he cried out happily before pouncing at him. Mephy's body protested the hug wholeheartedly, but a soft smile graced his lips anyway as he languidly reached up and patted Penumbra on the back.

There was a laugh at Mephiles' side, and he could already guess which Sonic it was. "I know you're happy to see him awake, Nummy! But I _think_ you might be hurting him."

Penumbra pulled back fast as lightning, worry etched into his features. "Sorry!" He looked Mephiles over. "Did I hurt you?"

Mephy blinked in slight surprise at the improved speech before giving an almost-smile – because his body was hating any movement at this point – and subtly shaking his head. He then glanced to the right to see Sonic and who he assumed was Tails, not TT.

Sonic was grinning at him, but the kit was more on the concerned side. "You went through that bottle really fast." Tails' gaze dropped to the plastic limply held in the hedgehog's hand. "Do you want some more?"

Mephiles barely managed to mouth, "Please."

"Gotcha covered!" Tails brightened before hovering in the direction of the kitchen. Mephy envied his mobility at the moment.

Watching the fox leave, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to see what it was, and he didn't expect another person. During his episode, he had heard a female, but he was too busy gasping for air to register it.

Also, her being there wasn't the thing that surprised him the most. It was her sharp, calculating eyes and the fact that she seemed vaguely familiar.

"Despite what you see, she's actually really nice."

Blaze huffed in amusement at Sonic's words, and it was like a spell was broken. Her gaze was softer as she introduced herself. "We haven't met before. I'm Blaze."

Mephy's muddled mind heard the name and took its time in making the connection. The surprise must've shown on his face, because she nodded as she sat on the couch. "Yes, I think you would've known me as the kitten."

So, she was this dimension's Blaze? It was strange how different the two were, but at this point, he didn't question it.

Mephy raised a slightly shaking hand – fighting the pull of gravity – and gestured to himself. "Mephiles," he mouthed, although he was sure that she knew about him already.

"Here you go!" Tails returned with another bottle and held it out to him.

Mephiles smiled in place of a 'thank you' as he reached out and grabbed it. He went to screw off the cap, but his fingers couldn't grip it hard enough. His muscles were too weak. He released an inaudible shaky sigh.

Tails, feeling bad for not opening it beforehand, helped out and received another smile for his efforts. Instead of gulping it this time, Mephy took controlled sips and reveled at the resulting coolness.

Sonic figured that it was time to get the ball rolling. "Now that all the pleasantries are outta the way…" he started, gaining Mephiles' attention. He thought of the best way to bring the subject of baffling resuscitation up. "I've got a question to ask. What's the last thing that you remember?"

Mephiles' brow furrowed as he lowered his bottle. The last thing that he remembered? He stared at the ground as he shifted through his foggy brain. He recalled running into Boom after escaping the underground base. Then, Boom dragged him back to that ruined city. They found the base again and...and…

Mephy's trembling increased at the remembered feeling of blistering heat encompassing him, trapping him, tearing away at his _skin-_

A hand clamped down on his shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. He whipped his head in Sonic's direction. There was a worried glint in those emerald eyes. Mephiles swallowed thickly before taking a sip of his water, his shaking becoming more controlled.

Blaze frowned at that, knowing that the whole experience had to be traumatizing. "I believe it's safe to say that he remembers…"

Mephiles gave a meek nod, his fingers crinkling the plastic.

Penumbra, ears flattened, looked as uncomfortable as Mephy did. He was at a loss for what to do to help.

Sonic let go of the other's shoulder, feeling a bit unsure. If that was how Mephiles reacted with the memory, how was he going to react when they tell him that he's been _dead?_ "That's good!" The blue hero ran his fingers through his quills. "Uh, I don't really know how to tell you this next part…"

Tails was biting his bottom lip. Telling Mephiles _now_ might not be the best idea. "Maybe we shouldn't-"

"We can't just keep this from him." Blaze realized that this was a touchy subject, but Mephiles of all people deserved to know.

"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya."

Mephiles turned from Blaze to focus on Sonic, horribly confused. They didn't want to tell him something? And it was nothing good with the way they were behaving. Sonic breathily chuckled. "Okay, Mephy, this might sound crazy, but…" He looked the striped one right in the eyes. "That explosion... killed you."

 _Killed me? Wha-?_ Mephiles stared at him for a second, waiting for him to take it back, to say that it was just a sick joke. But Sonic's expressive gaze remained steady. _No…_ He shook his head in disbelief as he took in Tails' solemn expression. He then faced Penumbra, and the striped hedgie nodded ever so slowly, looking like he hated doing so.

"Yeah, but you're alive again!" Sonic's voice gained a cheerful tone, his smile warm. "We lost you for a bit, and you're back now!"

Mephiles didn't understand. He had…died? Then how was he here? How – Mephy's breath caught in his throat at the thought that he hadn't been _alone_ at the base. His gut dropped, and his eyes widened as they fell on Sonic, lips quivering as they moved. "Is... where's-"

Sonic held up calming hands, knowing where he was going. "Boom's fine! Don't you worry!" Mephiles released a heavy breath and clinched his pounding chest. "He was hurt bad too, but Shads healed him before he...y'know."

Mephiles calmed himself down, though the fact that he had _died_ was still just… Mephy glanced down at his body for the first time, seeing the burn scars scattered along his chest, crawling up out of sight. He splayed his fingers across them, tense.

Tails knew that they had just dropped a heavy bomb, and he wanted to clear the smoke as soon as possible. "But like Sonic said, you're obviously not dead anymore! Which is miraculously amazing!" Mephiles just nodded at that, the words not easing his troubled expression.

"Don't be sad!" Penumbra tried, a grin spreading across his muzzle. "You aren't in the ground anymore, and Cream be happy when-"

"Cream _will_ be happy," Blaze corrected, and Mephiles stared at her, surprised, before his lips twitched up in slight amusement. It was safe to say that she's been helping with the other's speech.

Blaze was taken aback at the smile; she didn't know if she would ever to get used to that.

Penumbra was on the verge of pouting. "Cream _will_ be happy when she wakes up!"

The image of that sweet bunny widened Mephiles' smile a bit, but it didn't last for long.

Sonic saw the confused look aimed at him, and he figured that Mephiles was asking the big question of 'how am I back?' The speedster shrugged. "That's what we were hopin' you could answer!" Though, with how lost the other was, he could tell that wasn't the case. "I guess we're outta luck, huh, guys?"

"It's just so weird!" Tails couldn't wrap his head around this. "He was dead for days, so why now?"

Mephiles froze at that. _Days?!_ He gazed down at his body again, seeing the clumps of dirt attached to him. If he'd been buried, then that was why he was all dirty. But he didn't remember digging out-

"...Mr. Mephiles?"

Everyone turned around at the sound of that meek voice. Cream was standing in the mouth of the hallway with Vanilla smiling behind her. Cream's eyes were already watering.

Mephy relaxed a bit, feeling lighter at the sight of her.

"Mr. Mephiles! You're back!" Cream ran over with tears running down her cheeks. She paused in front of him, wanting to hug him but stopping herself. "C-Can I?" Mephiles fought to hide his shaking as he held his arms out. She collapsed into his lap and squeezed him. "I...I'm so glad y-you're here, Mr. Mephiles! We all missed y-you and when Mama told me you were out here, I-I couldn't wait and-" She cried happily into his shoulder.

Penumbra scooted over and patted her on her back, lightly chuckling. Sonic and Tails shared a warm look, and Blaze knew that she had never seen a sweeter sight.

Mephiles held her as tight as he could. He felt _so_ sorry for leaving her – everyone – and causing grief. He didn't know how he was back, but he wasn't going to waste this second chance.

Cream gasped, ending the embrace when a low rumble emitted from Mephiles' midsection. Mephy smiled sheepishly as he put a hand on his empty stomach.

"Are you hungry?" the bunny asked, wiping away her tears. "W-We can make you something!" She got back to her feet, beaming. "Mama, we have to make him and everyone a good breakfast!"

She skipped her way into the kitchen, and Vanilla followed behind her with a giggle. She stopped for a moment to regard Mephiles. "If you want to, sweetie, you can clean up in the bathroom in the back."

Mephiles gladly accepted the offer. When Vanilla walked out of sight, he was going to make a move to get up, but he already knew that he wasn't going to make it on his own.

Penumbra, seeing the crease in the other's brow, jumped at the opportunity to keep him from being sad. "Do you want help?"

Mephiles blinked at him before holding out an appreciative hand.

Nummy stood at full height and grabbed the hand. He gently pulled Mephiles up, and Mephy managed to stand under his own power...for about two seconds. Alarmed, Penumbra placed the blue-striped hedgehog's arm over his shoulders before his knees could fully buckle.

"Are you okay?" Penumbra fretfully questioned, and Mephiles gave a reassuring nod. Nummy slowly walked in the direction of the bathroom, Mephy hobbling beside him. He hoped that he would regain his strength soon enough. He knew that he could try to move in the shadows, but he didn't dare risk it in this condition. Being stuck in the floor was the last thing that needed to happen.

"Hurry and come back out, Mephy!" Mephiles peered over his shoulder to see Sonic and Blaze getting up. The blue speedster was grinning at him. "Because we gotta fill you in!"

 _Fill me in?_ _I was out for days…_ Mephiles sent him a wobbly thumbs up with his unoccupied hand. Sonic, Blaze, and Tails then joined the rabbits in the kitchen.

The hedgehog duo found the bathroom easily enough. Penumbra opened the door for him and hesitated. "Do you want me to come in?" Nummy had been taught that he couldn't go in a bathroom with someone unless they wanted him to. It was a weird rule; it was just another room.

Mephiles eyed the open space and the abundance of things he could lean on for support. He shook his head and stepped out of Nummy's grip, planting a hand on the wall to keep from falling.

Penumbra frowned up at his answer but didn't follow. "I will wait, then…" he said as Mephiles fumbled his way into the bathroom. Mephy smiled as he shut the door. Nummy tilted his head and perked his ears, waiting for anything that sounded off.

Mephiles sighed on the other side of the door, hating that he was like this. Maybe he just needed food in his system; that had to be it.

He managed to situate himself in front of the mirror. Once his hands were steady, he looked up and silently gasped.

Mephy had thought that the burns on his chest were bad, but compared to his _face_ …

He put most of his weight on one hand and used his free hand to lightly trace the outlines of the burns on the upper part of his face, all around his eyes. The fur there was patchy, and the skin was still sensitive. Mephiles exhaled heavily at the scarring. He doubted that all of this was going to go away, which was the price to pay, he guessed, for a second chance.

He stared at himself for a few more seconds, taking all of this in, before reaching over to turn on the tap. However, that hand ended up covering his mouth when more coughs wracked his system.

"Knock if you want water!"

Nummy's voice was instant. Mephy continued to cough, knees threatening to buckle again, until it let up. He didn't knock because this attack was nowhere near as bad as the first one.

Mephiles pulled his hand away and stiffened at what he saw. There was a black substance splattered on his palm, soaking into the glove there. He snapped his gaze to the mirror and saw the liquid drip from the corner of his mouth.

Then he blinked.

It was gone.

Befuddled beyond belief, Mephy searched his clear lips before examining his clean hand. What was…? He shook his head. It was probably nothing. He'd just woken up from being _dead_. His brain was still booting up and who knew what strange things he was going to experience before all the cobwebs were dusted off.

He calmed himself before turning the tap and getting to work.

* * *

Boom pushed some foliage away with a grunt while thinking about his teaching duties, which weren't as frustrating and tedious as he thought they were going to be. He wasn't enjoying the activity – hell no – but the process could be much worse. Rosy caught on quickly, and the things she had trouble memorizing were picked up on by the fox. The rest of the watchers Boom really didn't care about, but they didn't interrupt, which saved him from yelling and throwing out threats.

Also, he could tell that the pinkette wouldn't need him for long. She had learned so much after one lesson, and who knew how much ground Boom was going to cover for today's, so-

Boom's train of thought suddenly derailed and spontaneously combusted when he stepped out into a very familiar clearing. Normally, this place would make Boom feel like a pile of shit and then some, but never before now did it make him feel on the verge of having a heart attack.

Because there was a hole in the ground where Mephiles' grave was supposed to be.

"What. The. _Hell?!"_

* * *

 **Guess who's back, back again?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **Welcome back! Let's see how Boom will react, shall we?**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 5** **\- Reunion**

Sonic, Tails, and Blaze were comfortably sitting at a table in the rabbits' quaint kitchen. Cream and Vanilla were making upbeat conversation as they worked the counters, the bunny having a pep in her step.

Blaze allowed a smile to grow on her muzzle, for this was the happiest she'd seen Cream since she'd come from the future. She had noticed a change in Sonic and Tails as well, their happiness more genuine. Mephiles' death had to have been devastating for everyone, since he was very enjoyable to be around. But even so...they had a mystery on their hands.

"While this whole thing has been a pleasant surprise," Blaze began, leaning forward to gain the attention of the boys. "We have to figure out why he came back."

"Yeah..." Tails tapped his chin, deep in thought. Mephiles' coming back came out of left field. "And if it's just only him. The only reason I can come up with is that the Chaos emeralds being out of whack is causing this. What if-" He glanced out the nearest window. "What if more people start coming back?"

"Like a zombie apocalypse?" Sonic barked out a laugh and ruffled the kit's bangs. "You've been watching too many scary movies, Tails! I mean, it's been _days_ and Mephy's been the only one back that we've heard of. If there had been others, I'm pretty sure it would've been all over the news by now!"

Blaze could agree with that. No way would things be this quiet if hordes of the dead were walking around. "That's true, but what other option is there? If it's not the emeralds, then why did Mephiles show up at the door last night?"

Tails went back to his thoughts, and Sonic shrugged. "I got no clue." He leaned back in his chair, fingers linked behind his head. "But I'm sure _someone_ will have an idea when we surprise 'em." A chuckle escaped his throat as he thought of the reactions they were going to get.

Blaze hoped so as she turned to watch the rabbits, pushing the problem to the back of her mind for the time being.

It wasn't long until Mephiles wandered into the kitchen, using a perky Penumbra as a crutch. His fur was mostly free of dirt, and he seemed more energized and awake.

Cream was the first to greet him, standing by a toaster. "It's almost ready, Mr. Mephiles! You're right on time!"

Mephiles' stomach growled loudly at the delicious scent that met his nose, and Cream giggled. Penumbra's tail was twitching at the smells, its owner equally as excited. Nummy guided Mephy to one of the empty seats beside Tails. The red-striped hedgie claimed the chair on the other side of the shadow 'hog.

"You cleaned up real nicely, Mephy!" Sonic grinned playfully, and Mephiles silently snickered. It had been hard, but he managed without falling flat on his face.

"Now that you've been up for a while, how do you feel?" Tails peered at him, sapphires shining with curiosity. "Good? Bad?"

Mephiles held his hand up in a 'so-so' gesture. He wasn't feeling terrible anymore, but he wasn't feeling the best, either. For example, he couldn't walk on his own yet.

Blaze nodded. "That's fair. You should get better as time goes on."

Hopefully he would, because being barely able to screw off a top was embarrassing.

"Now that you're here, it's time to tell you all of what you missed out on!" Sonic propped his arms on the table and hummed to himself. "Hm, where to start?"

Tails rolled his eyes. "How about the best part? Where we won?"

Mephiles perked up at that. They won? Like, they didn't have to worry about the evil Espio anymore? A bit of disappointment flowed through him because he hadn't been there for it, but that feeling was quickly drowned out by relief. They were at _peace._

"Oh yeah!" Sonic chirped, shooting Mephy a look of excitement. "Sabo's done for!" Mephiles cocked his head at that, and he explained, "That's the nickname we gave the evil Espio because we couldn't keep callin' him Espio, y'know?" Mephy nodded and did a 'keep going' motion with his hand. He needed to know how it went down. Sonic chuckled. "Alright, short story or long story?"

Mephiles figured that they had plenty of time. He held up two fingers.

Blaze saw this and a subtle frown marred her muzzle. She lowered her voice some so the rabbits couldn't hear. "Just a warning, the long story isn't all good and positive. There were some...bumps."

Mephy's brow furrowed, not knowing what that meant. The way the atmosphere around the table shifted told him that the bumps – whatever they had been – were deep.

He nodded anyway, needing to know even more now.

"Alright, there's a long lead-up to our huge win." At the sight of Mephy's expectant expression, Sonic took a deep breath. "Let's just start at the trade-off…"

* * *

Boom was frozen in shock, staring at the gaping hole in the ground where Mephiles' grave had been. Mouth agape, he stiffly took one, two, three steps before sprinting over to the hole. He kneeled down at the side, his mind going haywire. He almost didn't want to look into it because what if Mephiles was still in there? He didn't want to see what he'd destroyed again.

But…

Boom took a deep breath before peeking over the edge of the hole, his pulse thudding loudly in his ears. He swore that his heart stopped for a beat when he saw _nothing_. The grave was completely empty.

"What in the…Why the hell?! _"_ he shouted as he scrambled back up to his feet, ice filling his veins. How, _why_ was it _empty?_ Wide emerald eyes snapped to the graves beside the hole; those were still intact. It was just _Mephiles'_ that was barren. What sick-minded bastard would…

Boom's frenzied brain only provided two assholes that would sink to this effed up level. One was locked up for the rest of his miserable life, and the other was _supposed_ to be drowning in the tears of his own damn failure. But apparently that wasn't the case, and he regretted letting the fat doctor off scot-free.

Because who the _hell_ digs up a _dead body?_

Anger fueling him, Boom quickly scanned the area for any sign of that mustached tub of lard. He growled when he came up empty and blasted off in the direction of someone who could _definitely_ pick up a trail.

* * *

"Are you okay, Mr. Mephiles?"

Startled, Mephy shifted his gaze up from the plate of eggs and toast he'd been absently staring at. Cream – and everyone else at the table – was staring at him now, pausing their conversations.

The bunny was frowning in worry. "You haven't eaten much yet."

Mephiles blinked before looking at his food again. He managed to shovel a forkful of eggs into his mouth, smiling as he chewed. Cream returned the expression, but it was sadder.

Sonic, who had been done with his breakfast, knew that he shouldn't feel guilty, but he felt so anyway. He figured that Mephiles would take Espio's and Rosy's conditions – he had spared the harsh details – hard. Though he thought that their win and the news of how Espio and Rosy were dealing would bring his spirits back up.

Tails nibbled on the last of his toast, wanting the other to cheer back up as well; but it'd be hard to do, because he had a good guess as to why he was feeling down. "Mephy…" he started, dull greens focusing on him. "None of it is your fault, you know that, right?"

Mephiles would like to agree, to say yeah, it was crazy to think his absence had caused Rosy to lose the ability to _hear_ , but-

If he _had_ been there…

Blaze seemed to be reading his mind. She was very observant, he'd learned. "Even if you had been there, Mephiles, the same thing could've happened. There were many places to be in Kingdom Valley at that _exact_ moment."

Sonic nodded, jumping in. "We all felt bad about it because we weren't there to help. Vector, VC, TT, and Espio were _witnesses_. Out of all of us, I'm sure they felt the worst." Sonic leaned forward in his seat, looking Mephy in the eye. "But what I'm sayin' is that we can't dwell on that stuff, okay? Rosy's fine and livin' life." He then grinned. "And I'm sure she'd hit you right now for thinking about it."

Mephiles pictured that, releasing a silent sigh. They were right. If he had been there, who knew where he would've been. According to the story, he most likely would've been in the underwater base. He just...felt _terrible_ that she had to go through that.

Penumbra cocked his head at him, chewing on toast as well. "Do you feel better? She won't mad – be mad at you."

"She'll be the complete opposite!" Cream exclaimed brightly, hating seeing him like this. "She'll be so excited and happy to see you!"

Mephiles nodded, picturing her and all of the others meeting him again. It put a small smile on his face, and the cheers that erupted caused it to widen even more.

Vanilla giggled as Tails and Sonic high-fived, Blaze shook her head in amusement, and Cream and Nummy sandwiched Mephiles in a hug.

Chuckles escaped Mephiles as he realized that it took energy he didn't have to stay negative. He had already gone through this phase once, and he learned that it wasn't healthy to constantly put himself down.

Not like his friends would let him do it anyway.

It was when he finally got into his well-prepared breakfast, the atmosphere around the table light again, that quiet yet incessant knocks filled the air.

"I'll get it!" Sonic was already out of his seat when he yelled those words out. "Wonder who it is?" he pondered aloud before smirking at a both eager and nervous Mephiles. "Stay here so we can surprise 'em!"

He had zipped out before Mephy could nod. Sonic mentally patted himself on the back, glad that he and the others could get Mephiles out of that slump before he dug the hole too deep.

The blue speedster jogged over to the door and yanked it open, revealing a very murderous-looking Boom. Surprise flashed across the newcomer's face before it was overshadowed with rage once more.

"Hey-"

"Where's Penumbra?" Boom cut him off, words harsh and sharp, as he pushed past Sonic into the house.

Sonic rose a brow at him when Boom glanced around the empty living room, his gaze lingering on the dirty blanket on the floor. "Uh...depends on why you're askin'! What's got your quills in a knot?"

"You want to know _why_ I'm upset?" Boom marched up to him, deeply scowling and clenching his fists at his sides. "Mephiles' grave is _empty,_ and that fat _jackass_ is about to get my foot shoved so far up his-"

"Whoa!" Sonic interrupted him, thinking of the rabbits in the back. "Just tone it down a bit, Boom-"

"What – _why_ are you so _calm?"_

Sonic inwardly smirked, not letting it show because he had a suspicion that Boom wouldn't take that well. Seeing an empty grave _would_ be pretty traumatic. "You came here for Nummy, right?" He bobbed his head in the direction he came from. "He's in the kitchen!"

Boom was going to ask what in the _hell_ was wrong with his too-blasé twin, but he didn't have the time nor the patience for it.

He glowered hard at Sonic before turning on his heel and barking out, "Penumbra!" Receiving no response, he stomped his way to the kitchen. This was the _worst_ day for them to be messing with him because-

All of Boom's muscles locked up as soon as he stepped into the kitchen.

There were multiple people in the room, but he was only focused on one– one who _shouldn't be there_. Boom saw the dark fur, the blue stripes, and the green eyes, but he also saw the scars scattered all over his face and chest, revealing discolored skin.

Boom was then lying on the floor again with broken bones, burns, and blood steadily dripping out of him. Mephiles was beside him, mangled and scorched and lifeless and…

There was no way.

"No." Boom took a step back, his voice barely a whisper. Mephiles was looking back at him, sitting at a table like he wasn't supposed to be lying in his grave. "He can't be…"

He barely registered the hand patting his shoulder. "But he is! We don't know how, but Mephy's back!"

Boom didn't respond, his brain refusing to process this. He was staring Mephiles down, eyes widened to their fullest, until concern etched into Mephiles' features. The shadow hedgie gave an experimental wave, and his mind came back online.

And that's when the guilt crashed into him.

It was one thing going through his stupid mistake once, but now he had to do it over and over and over again.

"Sonic?" For the first time, Boom's attention shifted to someone else. Penumbra was frowning at him, his brows pinched together in confusion. "Are you-"

"I'm fine," he answered too quickly, his voice scratchy and strained.

Mephiles' concern was more apparent now. As he rose from his chair, Boom noticed how his knees shook; how much of his weight was being supported by his trembling arms.

He caused this.

Boom roughly shook off Sonic's hand, earning him multiple surprised looks. He fought to keep his expression neutral as he turned and ran. He heard calls of his name, but the sound only made his legs work harder.

When a sonic boom went off in the distance, Mephiles heavily exhaled before slumping back down in his seat. That reaction was the last thing he had expected. He'd been ready for yelling, cursing, and confused anger. He hadn't seen _this_ coming, though it made complete sense.

Mephiles was now a constant reminder of what had happened.

Tails didn't know who to feel sorrier for. "That could've gone better."

Sonic rubbed the back of his neck as he reclaimed his seat. "I should've known that it wouldn't go well." He locked eyes with a downcast Mephy. "We were all pretty torn up that day, but you should've seen 'im. It was bad."

Mephiles slowly nodded. He stared at the spot where Boom had been standing before going back to his eggs. They were cold.

* * *

The breakfast of choice in the Chaotix household had been cereal this time.

Rosy made sure Vector could feel her pouty glare on the other side of the table as she shoved her sugary meat into her mouth. The croc was purposely ignoring her, but she knew that he knew that she was doing it.

The reason they were eating cereal wasn't because they had run out of pancakes; it was because Vector was adamant in keeping her from cooking. He had been stuck on the whole 'you're the guest' thing, wanting to prepare breakfast himself. But Rosy had stood in front of the stove; and it would've been a stand-off if Espio hadn't destroyed her chances by offering cereal.

Charmy, of course, had complained, but that didn't change a thing. Neither TT nor Silver had swayed either side, and that was why Rosy was being denied her own pancakes.

"How's the cereal, Vector?" Rosy asked, forcing her tone to be light.

"Amazing, thanks for asking!" Vector threw her a smile. Rosy was going to make sure to set an alarm so she would wake up _way_ before the croc tomorrow.

Silver, who was sitting beside the green reptile, made sure Rosy was paying attention when he questioned, "Is it that serious?"

"Yes!" they both exclaimed.

TT quietly chuckled at the existence of this silly argument, Espio huffing in slight amusement as well. Charmy was sulking over the fact that his breakfast could be _so_ much better.

The hedgehog/croc dispute was put on hold when loud, rattling knocks pierced the air.

Vector paused in eating his regretfully bland cereal to shout, "IT'S OPEN!" They had figured earlier that they would leave the door unlocked for any visitors.

Rosy raised a curious brow at TT, and he signed back, **"Door."** She nodded and trained her eyes on the entrance of the kitchen, wondering who it could be.

The appearance of Boom threw everyone for a loop. He was extremely early for the lesson, and he didn't seem... put together. His stance was stiff, his quills were slightly tousled – as if stressed hands had been run through them – and he was quietly panting.

Espio gave the azure hedgehog a once-over and addressed the safest observation. "You're early."

Boom ignored the chameleon altogether. Rosy didn't know what to feel when he looked straight at her. "Lesson's canceled."

 _Now_ she knew what to feel. Rosy bolted out of her seat, angry and hurt. "Canceled?! Wha – Why?"

"Call the rabbits' place." As soon as those words were uttered, there was a gust of wind and Boom was gone.

Vector gaped, wanting to believe that he'd imagined those last few seconds. "What in the WORLD just happened?"

"No clue." Silver had never seen that blue hedgehog so distraught before. Something was seriously wrong here.

"He was so weird!" Charmy exclaimed, hovering in the air and almost knocking over his bowl in the process. "He left just as fast as he came! What gives?"

"Whatever got him into that state can't be good," Espio stated. "If only he hadn't run away so-"

"Hey, um…" The boys turned to see Rosy and TT standing by the phone in the kitchen. The pinkette was holding it out for someone else to take. "Any of you know the number?"

Vector marched over to the phone and took it, hoping that Boom wasn't just pulling their legs. Though, with how he looked...something had to be up.

The croc held the phone up to his head and dialed the number. It rang for a bit before a familiar female voice answered. _"Hello?"_

"Hello, Ms. Vanilla!" Vector glanced over when the rest of the group huddled close to him, wanting to hear as well. The furthest one was Rosy, who was absently picking at her gloves. The croc continued with a, "How's your morning so far?"

"It's been wonderful," Vanilla responded, her tone warm. "How about yours, dear?"

Not hearing anything strange about her words or her voice, TT shifted his attention to Rosy and signed, **"Nothing weird yet."** The pinkette nodded with a small thankful smile.

"It's been kinda weird, and that's why I rang you." Vector explained to the rabbit on the other end, slightly leaning on the nearby wall. "Boom came over, and he looked _rough_. He told us to call you. Do you know what that's about?"

There were muffled voices on the other end that Vector couldn't make out. Vanilla responded to them, but she must have been covering the mouthpiece because her words were suddenly hard to decipher.

Vector shared an unsure look with Espio. What in the world was going on here?

Her voice eventually became clearer. "How do you and your friends feel about coming over?"

Vanilla didn't sound troubled at all – in fact, the complete opposite. Vector could practically feel her positivity through the phone. This was getting stranger by the minute. The croc scanned the rest of the listeners, earning nods from each of them.

"Is that even a question?" Rosy lowly commented after TT roughly translated.

Vector was glad that they all were on the same page. "We're on our way, Ms. Vanilla! But before I hang up, is there anything weird going on? You aren't in some kind of trouble, are you?"

"We're fine, sweetie. Don't you worry."

Vector hummed in thought. "If you say so. See you soon!" The detective hung up before replacing the phone. He tapped his chin and faced the others. "There's definitely something she ain't telling us."

"Well, there's no other way to find out besides seeing for ourselves." Espio didn't know what to take from that conversation. On one hand, Vanilla sounded relaxed and unburdened, but on the other, Boom had been the complete antithesis of that.

Rosy was already jogging out of the kitchen. "Let's hurry and get there!" If both Boom and Vanilla were telling them to go, then they had to go, no arguments there.

Vector pointed in the direction of the front door. "To the croc mobile!"

Silver and TT gave him an odd look.

Espio just shook his head. Vector hadn't called the jeep that in forever, and he had hoped the name had passed. "Don't ask."

It wasn't long before most of the occupants of the house piled themselves into the vehicle. Silver floated alongside as Vector gassed it, Charmy hovering erratically as he followed.

After a handful of minutes passed, Vector carefully examined the rabbits' home as he slowly drove into the front yard. There was nothing blatantly suspicious, but he couldn't make assumptions off of that.

"So what do we do?" Rosy asked as she stepped out of the jeep, eyeing the structure. "Just go up and knock?"

TT rounded the vehicle and meekly nodded at her. Things were peaceful again, so nothing terribly wrong could be going on, right?

Vector was the first to march up to the door, the curious onlookers quietly trailing after him. He raised a fist to knock, but the door was flung open before he had a chance.

Tails was standing there with a smile on his muzzle. "Hey, guys!"

The group relaxed somewhat at the warm expression, knowing that they didn't have to worry about any kind of danger. "Tails?" Charmy peeked over Vector's shoulder, his head tilted. "What are you doing here?"

"To help with the surprise!" The kit snickered as he gestured them inside.

"Surprise?" Rosy parroted, sharing a confused glance with TT.

"Is it a gift?!" Charmy threw out another question, suddenly very giddy.

"Something like that!" Tails mysteriously replied as he shut the door behind him.

Espio's amber orb searched around the empty living room. The house was too quiet. "Where is everyone?"

Silver furrowed his brow as the kit tried and failed to keep a poker face. "Tails...what are you hiding?"

The fox chuckled before taking a deep breath. He was a bit more serious now, backing up in the direction of the kitchen with his hands up. "Alright, the surprise is in the kitchen. But before I let you in there, you have to promise me something."

"What?" was chorused by the group.

Tails rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't run away, okay?"

"Run away? Why in the heck would we-" Vector paused when it dawned on him. "Did you show Boom this 'surprise' too?"

Yellow ears lowered marginally as he slowly nodded. "I guess that's how you knew, huh? It _was_ kinda weird that you called then of all times."

"This is something good, right?" Rosy had managed to keep up, glad that she'd been great at reading lips before the accident. When the kit replied affirmatively, her brows pinched together. "So why did Boom run away? And he...didn't look so good either."

A whole range of emotions flashed on Tails' face until a reluctant smile settled on his muzzle. "Well, I'll just show you, okay? Follow me!" He twirled his namesakes and left the room in a hurry.

"What are we waitin' for?" Vector led the group. "Let's see what all the fuss is about!" As soon as the croc crossed the threshold, his gaze swept over the expectant rabbits, Blaze, Sonic, Penumbra, and Tails. "Alright, so what's the-" Vector's voice got caught in his throat before he forced out, "Espio, pinch me."

Mephiles was the first person Espio had seen, and he was sure that none of them were hallucinating. "I'm not-"

"Espio, _please_ because I-"

"Vector, I'm not pinching you because it's _real._ " Espio didn't have a clue as to how Mephiles was alive and sending them all a soft smile, but he was _there._

"Oh my...Oh my gosh!" Charmy gasped, buzzing over to Mephy with shock written all over his face. "He's back! He's back as a _zombie!"_

Sonic shrugged, snickering. "Not quite, but sure."

Silver was speechless. He took in the dark hedgehog's amiable features, his gentle eyes surrounded by scarring. So, he just came back? Silver swallowed thickly as a thought came to him. Mephiles was alive again, so was he like…

"Mephiles?" Rosy took a small step forward, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. She couldn't believe her eyes. Just a few days ago, he was... and _now_ he…

Her thoughts trailed off when Mephy's gaze drifted off of Charmy and onto her, sadness filtering into it. Rosy almost stumbled over her own feet as she ran over to him.

She looked the hedgehog over, a few tears spilling. "How – When-" Rosy focused on his face and gasped. "Oh, _Chaos_ _._ _"_ She made a move to touch the patchy skin, but she stopped herself. The spots were probably tender, and Mephy probably wanted his space, and _he was alive._

TT tentatively approached her side, unable to focus on anything but the impossible. There was a whirlwind in his brain when Mephiles acknowledged him with a curl of his lips.

Rosy didn't even notice the fox beside her. She opened and closed her mouth, the intense surprise eating her words, until Mephiles opened his own. "I'm sorry." he mouthed at her.

"S-Sorry?" Rosy hadn't expected that at all. However, it was made crystal clear when one of Mephy's ears twitched. She withheld a gasp because her problem paledincomparison to what was happening now. "No!" She put her hands on her hips, her glossy gaze hardened. "You can't apologize! You're not allowed to!" Mephiles blinked in surprise when she jabbed a finger at his chest. "It wasn't – hasn't _ever_ been – your fault! And I just want to focus on y-you right now, okay?" Rosy glanced down at her hands before signing, **"Only about you!"**

Mephiles' expression twisted into one of confusion as he glanced between Rosy's face and her hands. He eventually turned his attention to Sonic, who was sitting there enjoying himself.

TT took the initiative, considering that the others hadn't told Mephiles this bit of information. "I-I asked Son – er– Boom to t-teach us um...sign language. For-" He glimpsed over at his sniffling sister, a mixture of emotions flowing through him. "Yeah…"

Vector just accepted this nice surprise and went with it. Their lives had never been normal after all, and he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. "He might be a pain sometimes, but he _is_ a decent teacher!"

"But it's still hard, though!" Charmy whined, hovering in the air beside TT. "And you know _all_ of it?" he asked Mephy. "You have to be crazy smart!"

Mephiles silently chuckled at the bee, but Espio realized that he seemed conflicted. The chameleon connected the dots well enough. Tails had told them not to run because Boom had. He couldn't imagine that interaction.

"He needs time to himself, that's all," Espio said, causing green irises to land on him. "He'll return eventually." Mephiles hesitantly nodded, and he noticed how subtle guilt grew on the hedgie's face at the sight of the chameleon's bandages. He opened his mouth, and Espio held up a hand. "Don't. You were busy saving them, remember?"

Espio bobbed his head in Cream's and Penumbra's direction. The bunny beamed while Nummy's smile was weaker as he studied Mephiles.

Mephy released a heavy breath and moved his hands. **"Sorry."**

Espio nodded at him, knowing that the weight of everything hadn't quite dissipated yet. "It's alright." The chameleon then glanced at the white hedgehog who had been silent this whole time. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

Silver jumped a bit at the question that ripped him away from his thoughts. He rubbed the back of his neck and sheepishly chuckled. "Uh, yeah!" Silver approached the blue-striped hedgehog, holding out a hand. "I'm Silver! Um, the other one? Well, guess you figured that out already…"

Mephiles seemed amused as he shook his hand, no hint of malice anywhere in his body. Silver welcomed this pleasant change, but he still had his doubts in the back of his mind.

When they let go, Mephiles signed, **"You came with Blaze, right? From the future?"** The movement had been too fast for Silver to comprehend, and it must've shown on his face, because Mephy repeated the motions slower. He wasn't bothered at all.

"Sure did!" Silver scratched his arm, still a tad surprised that he was a having a civil conversation with a Mephiles. "So they told you what happened, huh?"

Mephiles nodded, but before he could properly respond, Cream's voice filled the air. "Can you teach me sign language, Mr. Mephiles?" she asked, her eyes sparkling; though she softened her tone. "Since Mr. Boom isn't here?"

Penumbra subtly tilted his head at how Mephiles' smile lost some of its wattage. He communicated a 'yes' anyway, but…

"Wait a minute, Cream. We have all the time in the world to learn the language, but first help him regain his strength." Blaze nodded when Mephy's appreciative gaze fell on her, her words also gaining the newcomers' surprised attention. "I don't think he wants to be this weak for too long, and-"

The rest of her sentence died out when Penumbra suddenly stood up.

"Mr. Penumbra?" Cream curiously peered up at him. "What are you doing?"

Nummy took a step towards the exit of the kitchen. "I'm going to get Sonic," he responded, his tone absolute and sure.

"Whoa, Nummy!" Sonic stood up as well, holding out a hand. Penumbra paused and tilted his head at him. "You don't need to do that! You heard Espio, right? Boom will-"

"Not…" Penumbra pinched his brows together, thinking of his next word. "...fast. He won't come back fast. Sonic and Mephiles are sad-" Mephy's eyes widened a bit. "-and they won't be happy if Sonic is gone."

Blaze sighed. She knew that the other just wanted to help, but... "Penumbra, come sit down."

"I'm going!" Nummy opposed, padding over to the threshold between the kitchen and the living room. He squeezed past Vector and Espio and called over his shoulder. "I'll be back soon!"

"Uh." Vector didn't know what to do. He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "Do you want us to stop him, or…?"

Tails pursed his lips as the front door closed. "He should be fine by himself, right?"

TT wrung his fingers together. "He'll find B-Boom's scent fast enough."

"Yeah…" Sonic thought about going after the striped hedgehog, but he realized that he didn't need to. "He won't be alone for long!"

Rosy's lips twitched downwards before she glanced at a similarly frowning Mephiles. She moved her fingers. **"Do you** **-** **"** she paused as she mentally filtered through what she knew. **"** **-** **think he'll get him?"**

Mephiles silently sighed. **"I don't know."**

Espio saw this interaction. "Well, they'll be back soon enough." He recalled a specific cat's words, concern swirling in his gaze. "Blaze mentioned something about you being weak earlier?"

"It's because he's a zombie!" Charmy excitedly buzzed.

Mephy sent the bee an amused look, and Sonic rolled his eyes. The azure speedster responded to the chameleon. "Yeah! He's been all weak in the knees ever since he woke up."

"Makes sense." Vector nodded, examining the shadow hedgie with his hand cradling his chin. "Since he's been down for the count for a while now." The croc then made a fist, raising it into the air. "We'll get you back walking in no time, Mephiles! Just you wait!"

Cream giggled as she copied his pose. Charmy did the same with a "Yeah!"

Tails nodded eagerly. "That's a good idea! And maybe we should wait to spread the news until he feels better?" he suggested.

Sonic didn't mind it because that meant that they got rid of any unnecessary worry, and the others agreed as well if their nods were anything to go by. He smirked at the striped hedgehog. "Well, Mephy, looks like you're about to get a workout! You game?"

Mephiles feared for his body. However, he managed a smile, resisting the urge to cough.

* * *

The second Penumbra stepped outside, he had Boom's scent. He dropped down to all fours and let his senses take over, tearing up grass as he sprinted away from the home with his nose to the ground. He hoped that Boom hadn't gone too far.

Wind whipped through his curled quills as he burst into the surrounding trees, avoiding dense foliage as he went.

He was focused on not losing Boom's trail, but he also kept Mephiles' sad expression in the back of his mind. He could tell that Mephiles was trying to be happy but couldn't because Boom had run off.

Penumbra didn't exactly know why Boom hadn't stayed. Mephiles was alive, but Boom was very sad, and Nummy was just confused about this whole thing. But he was going to make it better. Penumbra was bringing Boom back and getting rid of the sadness that wasn't supposed to be there.

Clawed fingers dug into the dirt as he darted low to the grassy ground, accurately following the fresh trail. Penumbra blinked a couple of times when he ran out of the shade of the canopy, adjusting to the sunlight.

Nummy decreased his speed as he peered around, noticing that he'd never been here before. He was in a wide-open space with hills, but it wasn't in the direction of Sonic's house. In the distance, there were...he didn't know the word for them. They were boxes with wheels on a road.

Penumbra subtly cocked his head at the sight before refocusing on his task. He regained his speed, nose lowered. He never got closer to the road, curving away from it when the trail did.

He kept going and going until he paused in his stride when another something caught his attention in the distance. Penumbra stared ahead at the city that had appeared over the horizon. Nummy furrowed his brow as he sniffed the ground. The trail led in that direction, and a frown marred his face.

He didn't like cities. Every time he had been in one, something bad happened. Plus, humans were there…

Penumbra released a low whine before pushing himself ahead. He came to get Boom, and he wasn't going to turn around now.

As Nummy closed the distance between the looming skyscrapers and busy streets, his ears lowered and lowered until they were plastered against his head. Penumbra eventually reached the beginning of a sidewalk, crouched low to the ground with his piercing maroon eyes watching the humans' every move. It didn't help that they were everywhere, walking around and inside those boxes with wheels.

He bared his teeth whenever one of them glanced in his direction, quills bristled. His heart was racing as memories of humans and guns flashed in his mind. Penumbra shook his head to shake those images away. He was here to bring Boom back and being angry wasn't going to help him do that. He had to be happy.

Nummy huffed and forced himself to ignore those curious eyes. He sniffed the ground once before blasting off. He kept low to the ground, his focus now split between tracking and avoiding people in his way. There were grunts and gasps, but he ignored them. He was only here for one reas-

Penumbra skidded to a halt when the trail disappeared. He blinked in confusion before glancing over his shoulder. The people stepping around him were disregarded as he zeroed in on an alleyway that branched off the sidewalk. Nummy turned around and trotted toward the opening, and a smile grew on his muzzle when he picked up the scent again.

The alley was narrow and deep, and he was the only one in it. Relief flowed through him as he sniffed around the area. Nummy paused right beside one of the walls that shaped the alley. He cocked his head –confused as to why the path seemingly ended here – before turning his attention to the wall itself. The trail continued upwards, and Penumbra huffed as he looked up at the sky.

Maroons then drifted down to the other wall across the way. It was close enough. Nummy crouched low before jumping up and pushing off the building in front of him. Lean muscles then strained, allowing Penumbra to cross the gap and bounce off of the other wall, gaining height. He zig-zagged upwards, leaving scratch marks in his wake.

Penumbra eventually made it up to the roof he was aiming for. The material was rough on his hands and feet as he circled around, seeing if Boom was anywhere near. To his luck, his target was two buildings over, his legs dangling over the edge of the roof. The blue hedgehog hadn't noticed him, his emerald gaze trained on the bustling city below.

Nummy couldn't see his face, but he _knew_ that Boom was sad.

With a running start, Penumbra cleared the jump to the roof. He didn't lose his speed crossing that building, hopping another narrow alley and gracefully landing a bit of a distance behind Boom.

He was noticed then.

Boom whipped his head around, and a glare immediately settled onto his face. His mouth twisted into a scowl. "Why in the _hell_ are you here?" His emeralds then snapped down at the people below. Boom refocused on him, but a hint of caution was present now. "Penumbra, I _swear_ if you hurt any people down there-"

"Hurt?" Nummy repeated, approaching him. "I didn't hurt any." He sent the still frowning Boom a smile, settling down next to the speedster in a deep crouch. "I come to take you back!"

Boom sucked his teeth and pointedly looked away from him. He crossed his arms. "You wasted your damn time. Go back."

Nummy grabbed the other's arm and instantly withdrew his hand when Boom slapped him away. He pouted. "Not alone! You're coming!" The azure hedgie didn't respond to him, keeping his posture stiff. Penumbra kept pushing. "You're sad, and Mephiles is sad. Please?"

"I'm not effing _sad_." Boom growled out, refusing to meet the other's gaze. "I don't know what in that stupid head of yours made you think that."

Penumbra glanced all around them before staring at his friend, unsure. "You run away."

"And I'm going to punch you in your damn _face_ if you don't leave me alone!"

Nummy frowned at him. "What does damn mean?"

Boom loudly groaned, digging his fingers in his arms. "Fucking _leave._ "

Penumbra copied his position, arms folded over his chest. "I'll fucking leave when you follow."

The blue hero simply stared at him for a moment – leaving Nummy wondering if he had used the word wrong – before shaking his head in exasperation.

Boom made a move to stand. "Fine. If you won't go, _I_ will."

"No!" Penumbra clamped a hand on the other's shoulder, preventing him from getting up. "Stay!" He didn't want to be near those humans alone anymore. Being up high was fine. "I won't leave, but I won't talk! Okay?"

Boom's stare was heated. He coolly shook Nummy's hand off, but he didn't move like he said he would. He mumbled, "You would just find me again anyway." Penumbra beamed at him, his tail twitching. Boom ignored him altogether, leaning forward and recrossing his arms.

The striped hedgehog didn't talk, simply watching Boom watch the crowd below. The heat in his gaze was slowly depleting, but Nummy knew better than to ask. He couldn't speak, after all. Instead, he looked up at the sky, watching puffy clouds drift overhead.

They were silent for a long while, Penumbra having counted ten clouds that floated above them before an unfamiliar sound reached his ears.

Boom went rigid as he snapped his head to the side. He squinted at something in the distance. Nummy peered at him before following his line of sight, perplexed.

There was a loud, high-pitched sound coming from a bunch of red and blue lights on the road. They were attached to some boxes with wheels that were zooming along, weaving around other boxes.

When the lights passed by the building Nummy and Boom were on top of, Penumbra gasped when his chest hair was painfully fisted.

There was fire in Boom's eyes. "Why did cop cars show up after _you_ did, huh?"

Nummy's ears were lowered. "I don't know?" The boxes were called cop cars?

Boom shoved him away, and he barely reacted fast enough to keep him from landing on his side. "If I find out that you _lied_ to me…" Boom didn't finish his snarl, dashing down the building and going after the cars.

Penumbra didn't bother answering, running at his heels after a moment of hesitation.

Boom knew that Penumbra hadn't lied to him. The azure hedgehog peered over his shoulder at the striped hedgehog who was easily keeping up. He frowned as he returned his attention to the cars ahead, practically riding one vehicle's bumper.

Penumbra didn't have the capacity to lie, at least not yet. Boom just needed a distraction from the heavy ball of guilt growing inside him. Mephiles was alive again. Boom knew that he should feel relieved, but Mephiles shouldn't have died in the _first place_. Now he had disgusting scarring and he could barely _stand up_ and he should be mad at him. Why wasn't Mephiles _mad?_

Boom cursed to himself when he almost ran into the back of the cop car. He backed up a couple steps as officers filtered out of the group of four vehicles and headed toward a shadowed alleyway.

Boom debated speaking up until his mind provided _screw it._ "What's going on?" he asked, gaining the attention of a few cops.

The one closest to him paused as recognition shone on his face. "Sonic the Hedgehog? It's relieving to see you here." The man approached him before faltering in his step when a deep growl filed the air.

Boom peered down at his side to see Penumbra baring his teeth and bristling his quills. The azure hedgie scowled at him and hissed, "Shut up and calm _down."_

Penumbra glanced at him and eventually stopped growling. His quills relaxed too, but his stance was still threatening.

Boom huffed as he regarded the officer. "Don't pay any attention to him."

"Right." The man was clearly wary. He didn't dare to get any closer. "Well, someone called in a homicide." Boom stiffened, his breath hitching. "And we're here to investigate."

"Lead the way, then," the blue hedgehog ordered as his blood began to boil.

"Are you sure? From the description-"

"Did I stutter?"

Boom had tried to keep his patience, but old habits die hard. His respect for any police from his old world had been in the negatives.

The cop blinked in surprise before bobbing his head in the direction the rest of his men disappeared in.

Boom followed behind him as the cop jogged away. He then threw his words backwards. "Stay _quiet,"_ he told the trailing Penumbra, not caring for a response.

They entered the shadows a little while later. There weren't any hints of a crime until the busy morning crowd disappeared into the background.

Only then was there blood, and lots of it.

A female was lying down on her stomach, wallowing in her own carmine fluids. Her face was turned to the side, her blond hair stained red. Her throat was cleanly slit, eyes frozen wide in fear.

Most of the officers were either taking the sight in or using their walkies to contact some outside help. One cop was off to the side, having a conversation with an obviously shaken civilian.

"He's the one who called this in," the officer from before needlessly informed the azure hedgie.

"It's not fresh," the cop closest to the body called out. "The blood's somewhat dried. I say that it's been thirty minutes at least."

"So her murderer could have covered some distance," another cop commented. "We need investigators down here pronto."

Boom stared blankly at the body, anger festering within him, before nodding to himself. "Don't bother. We'll bring that asshole in." There were shocked eyes on him as he approached the body, stopping short of the blood despite some cops' wishes. "Penumbra. Sniff 'em out." They were going to find this piece of trash and make them regret even picking up a knife.

They had already taken down one senseless murderer. They could do it again.

The striped hedgehog – who'd been hanging back – perked up at the command. Penumbra hesitated before slinking over, putting as much distance he could between the officers and himself. Boom watched him, inwardly glad that he didn't have to deal with the unpredictable tendencies of the other hedgehog.

Penumbra avoided the blood as well, getting as close as he could without touching the body. He sniffed around before cutting his sharp gaze in the opposite direction of where they entered. The less populated back alleyways were back there.

Penumbra gave Boom a slight nod before taking off. The azure speedster motioned for a nearby cop to hand over his walkie. When the response wasn't immediate, Boom snatched the device out of the sputtering man's hand and sped away, tucking it into his quills.

They went through twists and turns as they cut through the darkened alleys of Central City, occasionally passing by parked cars and curious passers-by. Penumbra was too busy tracking to pay them any mind.

Only a few minutes of rushing by piles of trash, abandoned shops, and other questionable locations associated with the grimier and greyer part of the city passed when Penumbra abruptly stopped at the corner of a decaying cafe. Boom opened his mouth to ask what in the world he was doing, but Penumbra's swiveling ears prevented him from going through with it.

Boom remained silent at the striped one's furrowed brow, waiting somewhat impatiently for any kind of information. After a couple seconds, Penumbra carefully peered around the corner. Those sharp maroons focused on something Boom couldn't see for a moment until Penumbra looked back at him.

The striped one nodded, and that could only mean one thing.

Muscles tense, Boom returned the gesture before motioning Penumbra to stay put. "Don't move," he commanded, so quiet that he barely heard himself. He knew that Penumbra caught it, though.

He didn't wait for him to respond, stalking around the corner to see what kind of bastard they were dealing with.

It wasn't hard to find the suspect, for they were standing in the middle of the shaded alley, leaning against a rusty trash can. It wasn't human, its large ears, white muzzle, and dark fur being huge giveaways. Boom could tell that the murderer was male from where he stood, despite the white fur flowing down his back. He was clean, too; not a drop of blood on him.

Boom only noticed the phone gripped in dark-gloved hands for a second until his attention was demanded by the sword holster attached to the stranger's back. If he had any doubts about if this was the suspect, then those had been put to rest by _that_ sight alone.

The only reason Boom hadn't been spotted by this point was because the other was gazing down the opposite end of the alley, looking like he was waiting for someone or something.

Not for long.

The feeling of his fist smashing against the murderer's cheek was _so_ satisfying, and so was the pained yell ripped out of his throat as he was flung away. Boom clenched his throbbing knuckles, inwardly smirking as the other crashed on the unforgiving concrete. His outward glower didn't change, however.

The unknown male hissed upon contact, rolling before coming to a complete stop. He sat up on his hands and knees, spitting out saliva mixed with blood. A black glove wiped the red stain from his mouth as heterochromatic eyes – one yellow and one blue – snapped up to where Boom was standing.

Boom's own eyes narrowed when the other tensed, recognition shining in those orbs. "Yeah, you're effin _caught._ "

"What the hell-" The male's voice was gravelly as he stood back up, gingerly rubbing his throbbing cheek. "-was _that_ for?"

Oh, so he was going to play the innocence card? As if _that_ was going to work. "Cut the bullshit," Boom borderline snarled, quills bristling. "You know _exactly_ what you did."

The suspect spat out more blood, looking at Boom like he was nothing more than gum on the bottom of his shoe. "Do I? Mind reminding me, then?" Boom glared, tired of this act, and the canid copied the action, hackles raising. "You at least owe me that for attacking me, _hero._ "

"You slit her _throat_ ," Boom snapped, anger rising.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about." The canine retorted lowly, marginally baring his teeth. He was trying to look tough, but all Boom could see was a cornered frightened animal. "And if I _did_ , you don't have any proof."

Boom scoffed, the gesture devoid of mirth. "There's your problem. You think I give a _damn_."

The male eyed him, watching as Boom's glare intensified and how the hedgehog shifted his weight. The suspect hastily reached over his shoulder for his sword, dropping the act. "Dammit!"

Boom was silent when he rushed the canid, rearing back a fist and preparing to break the suspect's nose. That was exactly what he would've done if there wasn't a blade aiming for his neck. Boom swiftly ducked the swing, the red-colored sword looking more than sharp enough to shred skin, before springing back up and punching the other right in the gut.

"You planning on killing me?" Boom derisively snorted, sarcasm palpable in his tone. "Right, because _that_ will keep you inconspicuous."

The canine grunted in pain as he doubled over, wheezing. Boom didn't give him a chance to recover before lifting his elbow and ramming the murderer in the back of the head. The male shouted out as he was sent to the ground.

Even though he was flat on his stomach, the canid gritted his teeth and tried another attack. Boom saw the swing a mile away, the sword going for his calves this time. The hedgehog hopped up and _instantly_ regretted it when the blade followed his movements.

Searing pain blossomed from his right calf, and Boom loudly hissed at the sensation. He landed and immediately was sent to his knees because any weight put on that leg caused _agony._ Steely emeralds snapped back to see blood pour out the lower back of his calf, any movement of his foot sending needles up his spine. The guy had cut his stupid achilles, and it hurt like a _bitch._

Boom pushed his own torture aside for a second when the canine scampered to his feet. The hedgehog attempted to reach out and grab _anything_ , but a sharp blade barely an inch away from his nose halted his movements.

The dark-furred anthro's heated gaze was trained on him. He was breathing heavy, bruises forming and visible despite his black pelt. "You're lucky that you are who you are." A growl leaked into his tone, his grip tightening on his blade. "Or I would have killed you."

Boom was going to reply with an elegant _piss off,_ but he revised his words at the sight of Penumbra stalking the canine from behind. He was low to the ground, his ears were folded back, his teeth were bared in a ferocious snarl, and for once, Boom wasn't upset that the striped hedgehog hadn't listened to him.

"What's keeping you, huh?" Boom rebutted instead, tearing off one of his gloves and pressing it against his wound, inwardly wincing at the shock of pain. "I've memorized your face-"

"You _won't_ find me again." The canine interrupted him, his voice crisp. The sword then lowered itself under Boom's chin. The hedgehog had no choice but to lift his head when the blade pressed against his skin there. "How the hell'd you do it, huh?"

The blade pressed harder against his chin, but Boom refused to lift his head any higher. He felt drips of blood run down his neck. "Wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

The canine clicked his tongue in irritation before a smugness settled in his expression. "You're pissed. It's not my fault that you stuck your nose where it doesn't belong," he said gruffly as he stared down at Boom. "Take my advice and stick to robots, or you might get your neck sliced open."

Boom simply growled at him, hiding his grin as the stranger lowered his weapon and turned around.

Only to face a standing Penumbra.

The male didn't have any time to react. A strangled gasp filled the air when a clawed hand wrapped around the canine's throat and _squeezed._ The suspect coughed before desperately swinging his blade. It didn't hit his target, for Penumbra caught his wrist with a guttural growl. The striped hedgehog sharply twisted the wrist, and the canid cried out, dropping the sword in tandem.

The weapon clattered to the ground while the stranger clawed at the fingers cutting off his air supply with his remaining hand, struggling for breath.

Boom sucked in harshly as he repositioned his glove, wanting to go melt that sword in a furnace or something. He had to get Stripes to heal him because he _refused_ to be put in another hospital. He'd been in too many of those recently. "Don't kill him," Boom said to the striped hedgehog.

Penumbra's sharp gaze shifted to him, to his bleeding leg, and back to his face. "Why?" he asked over the sounds of the criminal's plight.

"Just _don't_ ," Boom nearly snapped. "Just knock him out or something." The police and the girl's family would take _good_ care of him.

Penumbra's growl had a hint of frustration, but he loosened his grip anyway. The canine took in a big gulp of air before the striped hedgie promptly smashed his head against the nearby dumpster. The killer was limp as he slumped to the ground.

Nummy peered down at the male, watching his chest slightly rise and fall before nodding. "Not dead."

If only Boom had the satisfaction of doing that. Oh well, witnessing it was good enough. The azure speedster then dug into his quills and took out the officer's walkie-talkie. He activated it and relayed their current location as best as he could, given that they were in the bowels of the city.

"Heard you loud and clear!" One of the officers responded. "We're on our way!"

Boom lowered the device, frowning when Penumbra crouched low by his bleeding leg. "Are you okay?" he inquired, his attack mode completely replaced with annoying mother hen. "Does it hurt?"

"It's a pain in the _ass_." Boom hated this. He hated swords, hated murdering pieces of trash, hated surprises, hated pain, hated feeling guilty, hated that Mephiles _didn't_ hate, hated-

"...So it does hurt, then?" Penumbra ventured, his expression twisted in confusion.

Boom groaned, agitated, and Nummy grew even more befuddled. However, before he could question anything, those black ears of his perked up. He focused on a spot over Boom's shoulder.

The blue speedster didn't hesitate in following the other's line of sight. Penumbra was staring at the opposite end of the alleyway, hearing something Boom couldn't. After a couple seconds, he could tell what it was.

Footsteps.

They were growing louder and louder as they approached the mouth of the alley. The taps were heavy yet quick, like someone was in a hurry. Boom narrowed his eyes at the sound of a male voice. "He should be somewhere around-" The owner of the voice turned the corner and instantly froze in his tracks. "-here…"

The man was human with brown eyes, glasses, and a briefcase. His grey suit was spotless, and it screamed money. The newcomer looked between Boom and Penumbra before focusing on the unconscious canine. Those brown eyes widened, and his gulp was audible.

Boom had a gut feeling that this guy was wrapped up in whatever the murderer had done. He sneered at the human. "I wouldn't run if I were you."

His threatening tone shifted something in Penumbra, because his quills were starting to bristle again, and his teeth bared at the petrified businessman.

"Talk," Boom ordered.

That was all that was needed to open the floodgates. "I-I'll tell you everything! Just d-don't take me to jail-" He eyed Penumbra. "-or kill me! I have a wife and two kids and-"

"I don't _care_ ," Boom sharply interrupted him.

The human stiffened before spouting stuff that was _actually_ relevant. He was nervously staring at the downed canine. "H-His name is Infinite the Jackal...o-or at least that's what I k-know him as. He's a m-mercenary, and I was c-c-coming here to give him his payment, but!" The man dug in his pocket, pulling out his wallet. It was shaking violently. "I-I can give you the payment instead or even _all_ the m-money I have on me if you k-keep this quiet and let me go free! D-Deal?"

Boom looked at the held-out wallet before meeting the man's eyes. " _Hell_ no. Penumbra-"

He didn't even have to finish his sentence. The striped hedgehog dashed toward the man, and the resulting punch was so powerful that the newcomer's nose instantaneously broke and he was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Penumbra glared down at the human, wiping off some of the blood he got on his fur. He then turned to Boom as police sirens sounded in the distance, his expression relaxing. "What's a mercenary?"

Boom threw the knocked-out jackal a heated look, his blood boiling at the knowledge that the girl hadn't been his first. She could've been his fifth, tenth, or _fiftieth_ for all he knew. "A lowlife who kills for money."

Penumbra stared at him blankly.

Boom scowled at him. "And it's a _bad_ thing, dammit."

Then Nummy nodded, understanding.

* * *

 **Oh, hey look, there's a jackal. Rowdy little things, aren't they?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **I loved all of the reactions to Infinite! Leaving him out of this fic would've been too cruel! Enjoy the next chappie!**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 6- Is seeing believing?**

Vanilla made sure that her steps were quiet when she crept out of the bedroom. Before leaving altogether, the rabbit peered over her shoulder at the covered lump centered in the bed in the middle of the room. She focused on the closed eyes just peeking out from beneath the blanket.

 _Poor thing,_ she thought to herself. Vanilla was more than happy and relieved that Mephiles miraculously reappeared as sweet as he was before he died, but… he was so weak. Mephy and Sonic had worked on the former walking under his own power in the living room for about ten minutes until it was apparently too much. Mephiles' knees had buckled– to everyone's horror– and he would've passed out on the floor if Silver hadn't mentally caught him.

Blaze had quickly offered up her borrowed bed so Mephy wouldn't be bothered, and Vanilla's motherly instincts had kicked in. Silver let her carry him to the back, and she was astonished at how unhealthily light he was. He had been without food for a long period of time, and he hadn't been in perfect condition when she had first met him, either.

Concern swirling within, Vanilla turned off the lights and gently shut the door behind her. She ambled back to the living room where everyone was quietly waiting, a heavy atmosphere covering them.

Cream was the first to perk up, standing from her place on the couch. She bit her lip in worry, hating that Mephy was in such poor condition. "Is he still asleep, Mama?"

Vanilla nodded solemnly. "He is, sweetie." She managed a small smile. "But hopefully he'll be awake again soon." Cream eventually nodded as well before running over and giving her mom a tight hug. Vanilla instinctively wrapped comforting arms around her.

"He'll be fine, Cream!" Tails attempted to cheer the bunny up from his place on the couch. He believed his own words, but he didn't know how long it would take. "We just have to give him some time."

"Tails is right." Espio was propping himself up on the arm of the couch. "His muscles had atrophied somewhat. We need to be patient in dealing with his healing process. His body as a whole needs to regain its energy."

"Like me when I eat too much candy!" Charmy was hovering in the air, trying not to be too concerned about their friend. "I nap _all_ day after I crash!"

Vector shook his head, wishing that was actually the case. "No, Charmy. You only nap for twenty minutes, but any _other_ person would be out for a while." The croc stroked his chin, staring in the direction Mephiles was. "And if I was to take a guess, being dead and coming back takes _way_ more energy than going crazy on sugar. He's gonna be real acquainted with that bed back there."

"But when he wakes up…" Cream pulled away from her mom, wiping any tears that threatened to fall. "He'll be better, right…?"

"Oh yeah, definitely!" Sonic agreed with her, the bunny's expression brightening slightly. The azure speedster continued, an idea forming in his mind. "And maybe when he wakes up again, he'll be able to walk perfectly!" Questioning eyes fell on him, and Sonic gave a lopsided grin. "Shadow has a chaos emerald, so he'll probably be able to fix up Mephy's muscles, yeah?"

"That's a good idea!" Tails chirped. A smile pulled at his lips as well. "The energy could help strengthen Mephy up!"

TT was standing beside Rosy, his attention split between the ongoing conversation and how much the pinkette was fretting over the striped hedgehog's health. She wasn't saying anything, but she was chewing her lip and not even trying to keep up with the exchanged words.

He could empathize with her because Mephiles had been through _so_ much with them – in both dimensions – and while having him back was beyond incredible, everyone with eyes could see that he was struggling.

When Tails had agreed with Sonic, TT couldn't help but to say, "B-But he st-still probably won't wake u-up…"

Sonic weighed his words for a moment. "Well, yeah, but we'll take things one step at a time! He'll be as good as new again before you know it!"

The hedgehog's positivity was severely contagious, TT had learned. A faint smile crept on his muzzle. Mephiles was going to get better, and everything would be fine.

TT then focused on Rosy, wanting to transfer the good energy. He put a hand on her shoulder, dragging her out of whatever thoughts she was buried in.

Her green eyes fell on him, and the kit mouthed, "He'll be okay. Do you think he wants us to be worried all the time?"

Rosy knew that it would be the last thing Mephiles wanted, but she couldn't help it. Still, the pinkette had to try, because they'd all been worried and stressed for far too long.

"I know…" Rosy sighed. "Worrying isn't going to help him get better."

Espio had been paying attention to their little interaction. To him, it seemed like staying here and waiting around for Mephiles to wake up wasn't a good way to spend their time; especially since the agency was now available for jobs. They had their time to wind down, and the Chaotix still needed an inflow of money.

The chameleon slightly shifted his weight, eventually getting Rosy to notice him. "Since it's going to be a while until Mephiles wakes up, I think it's a good idea for us to go check if we've gotten any calls." Vector nodded, agreeing because they'd been off-duty long enough, and losing clients was the _opposite_ of profit.

Espio noticed Charmy slumping at the mention of work, but he disregarded it to continue, "If we have a job, would you two like to come with us?"

Charmy perked back up, clapping. "It'll be sooo fun!" He buzzed around Rosy's and TT's heads. "You gotta come!"

TT believed it was a good idea, for it was a chance to get a breath of fresh air and to visit new locations. The kit faced Rosy, subtly frowning at the confusion on her face. She must've missed some of what was said. He signed, **"Espio asked us if we want to join them on a job if they have one."**

" **To pass the time,"** Espio helpfully added, relieved at the comprehension in the pinkette's expression.

Rosy didn't have to think about it. She would love to see the sights to get her mind off things, and Mephiles would still be there when they came back. "Definitely! I'd love to go!"

Vector smiled. "Alright! We got a plus two! You get to see us work our detective magic! And learn how to run a business with Charmy causing havoc all the time," he added with a snicker.

"Hey!" Charmy puffed out his cheeks, crossing his arms. "Not all the time!"

"But… most of the time?" Rosy pushed with an amused grin.

"Definitely." Espio confirmed with a quiet chuckle before taking a step toward the front door. "With that, we'll be off, and hopefully we have a good trip for you two." Rosy and TT both nodded, more than thankful.

Charmy was visibly excited, hovering back and forth as he followed the chameleon out. Vector raised a hand in goodbye before exiting as well.

"I should be going, too!" Sonic announced, putting a hand on his hip. "So I can try to get to Shads to fix Mephy up."

"Oh!" Tails hopped up from the couch. "I'm going with you!" Not to help Sonic talk Shadow into coming to see Mephy – simply saying the phrase 'Mephiles is back' should do the trick – but to see if G.U.N. had any trashed planes he could attempt to patch up.

"Can I join too?" Silver spoke up, gaining curious looks from the hedgehog and fox. The psychic's eyes flickered over to where Rosy and TT were talking about their possible trip. "I just… I want to talk about something on the way."

Sonic was a little confused, but he didn't see the harm in it. "Cool, the more the merrier! Anyone else want to tag along?"

Vanilla and Cream shook their heads and after Blaze sent Silver a calculating glance, she communicated a negative as well.

"Okay, we'll be back in a bit!" Sonic threw them a grin before running out of the home with Tails and Silver taking flight above him. The speedster controlled his speed so he wouldn't lose the other two – they weren't in a big rush – and just as he began to enjoy the wind whipping through his quills, Silver dipped down to Sonic's height.

At Sonic's raised brow, Silver went ahead and revealed what was on his mind. "Aren't you two…" He glanced up at Tails, and the kit flew closer to the ground as well to listen. "At least a little bit concerned about what's happening?"

"About what?" Sonic questioned. "About Mephy comin' back?" The azure hedgehog waved the psychic off. "Nah! Yeah, it's a little weird, but it's nothin' to be worried about!"

Silver couldn't have expected anything different because Sonic was the definition of easy-going, so he aimed his question at the kit. "What about you, Tails?"

"I don't see anything wrong…" Tails began, his namesakes whirling behind him. "I mean, we haven't figured out the _why_ yet, but there's no reason to-"

"No reason?" Silver bit his cheek, glancing back in the direction they had come from. "Mephiles came back from the _dead_ , and-"

"So did me and Shads!" Sonic interrupted him as Station Square appeared in the horizon. He knew why Silver was iffy about this whole thing, but Sonic had to get into the other's head that Mephy wasn't _Mephiles_.

Silver resisted the urge to face-palm. "But that was different, and you know it! Our Mephiles had been a _god_ and now, this Mephiles was brought back from the dead? I _can't_ be crazy for thinking negatively about this!"

"You're not crazy…" Sonic smirked at him. "Just a little paranoid."

Silver deadpanned before glancing at Tails, hoping for some help here. The kit was tapping his chin in thought. He met Silver's gaze. "It does seem like a bad coincidence, but those two have nothing to do with each other, Silver!"

"You tell 'em, lil bro!" Sonic gave Silver a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Just tone down the pessimism, yeah? Especially around the other guys."

Silver wasn't thinking that the two were connected somehow; he was more concerned about how blue-striped immortal hedgehogs usually led to devastation. The psychic sighed. "I'm just saying that I've made the mistake of trusting a Mephiles once, and Mephy might be nice, but the situation surrounding him is just…"

Sonic eyed the other, sensing his frustration. "Lighten up, alright? If there is somethin' fishy going on, we'll cross the bridge when we get there. But right now, enjoy the present, 'kay?"

Silver still seemed unsure, but he nodded anyway before gaining height once more.

The conversation lulled as the distance to Station Square swiftly shortened. Sonic took the lead when the trio entered the awakening city, decreasing his speed so he wouldn't run any pedestrians over.

The azure speedster looked up to see Tails and Silver still flying behind him. His emerald gaze lingered on the psychic, who seemed lost in his thoughts. Sonic shook his head and took to the sidewalks; Silver was just overthinking things. He'd learn that soon enough.

They reached the city's main G.U.N building in no time, Sonic walking right up to the entrance like he owned the place. Tails landed and followed in the hedgehog's footsteps, and Silver tentatively trailed after the two.

The white hedgie scanned their surroundings curiously as a blast of air conditioning hit him. He'd never been in one of G.U.N's places before, but it was kinda what he'd expected. The place was clean, with soldiers and workers out of uniform milling about.

The small group of heroes gained the attention of most of them, though most all curious eyes were glued on Silver. He suspected that it was because he was 'new' here, not as well-known as the hedgehog/fox duo in front of him.

"Hey!" Sonic's voice echoed around the room, addressing whoever was listening. "Anyone know if Shadow's in?"

Silence reigned until one of the soldiers spoke up. "We don't, but the Commander should." He bobbed his head deeper in the building. "He's in."

"'Kay, thanks!" Sonic gestured for Tails and Silver to follow, and they did, continuing as the workers went back to what they were doing.

Sonic knew exactly where he was going, and the trio eventually slowed down in front of an impressive door within minutes. The blue hedgehog pushed it open without any warning, revealing an intense man sitting at a large desk scanning paperwork.

Sharp eyes snapped up at their arrival, and they did not look welcoming.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," the Commander began, placing down a stack of papers. His gaze swept the speedster's company before refocusing on the blue hedgie. "I assume."

Sonic was confused for a second, but then it became clear. "Oh, I'm guessin' that Shads filled you in about the doubles situation?"

"More or less." The Commander grunted, the reminder seeming to darken his mood. "All I know is that I have to put up with antics from _more_ of you now."

Sonic disregarded that statement, and Silver eyed Tails, wondering where the coldness was coming from. The kit shrugged, softly smiling. "Let's just say… they haven't always seen eye-to-eye."

Silver nodded as Sonic put a hand on his hip. "Putting that aside, I have a question for ya! Do you know where Shadow is?"

"Out," was the Commander's helpful answer as he went back to his work, pen scribbling over his papers and pretending like the trio weren't there.

Sonic shared a slightly exasperated look with Tails. "Yeah, I got _that_ ," the speedster said. "Where exactly is he, and how long will it take for him to get back?"

"It's confidential. Leave."

Sonic sighed, tapping his foot on the floor. "It's kinda important! Can't you be nice and just-"

"Commander, we've come back with intel on– Oh! Hello, boys."

The three heroes peered over their shoulders, ignoring the Commander's complaint of this being the first instance the agents had ever been on time. Rouge was walking in with Shadow behind her, both curious at the presence of the others.

The bat raised a brow. "What are you three doing here?"

Sonic grinned at them. "We've got some juicy news to share!" He then shifted his attention to the Commander, who was doing his work but still clearly listening in. It would be best if the man in charge of a section of the government didn't hear about dead hedgehogs coming back to life. "How 'bout we step into the hall? Boss man needs his peace and quiet!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes at him with a pensive frown on his muzzle while the Commander commented, "Yes, go. But my agents _better_ be back in here in five minutes."

 _Don't count on it_ , Sonic inwardly snickered, following Rouge and Shadow back out of the room. When Tails closed the door behind them, Shadow initiated the conversation. "What's going on?"

Silver wasn't going to beat around the bush, stepping up to the plate before Sonic had a chance to. "Mephy is back." Instantly wide scarlets and teals landed on him, and the psychic nodded, his expression sincere. "Yeah, back as in back from the _dead_ , back."

Rouge and Shadow kept staring, waiting for him to mend his words. When he didn't, the bat blinked in shock. "Well…" She gave Shadow a fleeting look; his muscles were subtly tensed. "You don't hear _that_ every day." Rouge threw her next question at the trio, the surprise morphing into relief with a sprinkle of doubt. "Are you sure-"

"How?"

Shadow's voice was crisp, demanding to be answered. His expression was unreadable, but his posture screamed wariness, skepticism, and suspicion.

Sonic couldn't say that he was surprised by this reaction. He shrugged. "Dunno! Was kinda hopin' that you had an idea."

"He just showed up at Cream's house in the middle of the night!" Tails went on to explain. "When Sonic and I got there, he was unconscious and covered in dirt, like he'd dug right out the grave!"

Rouge hummed thoughtfully at that. "Well, we've learned that he can do surprising things when he puts his mind to it, but…"

Shadow was just as confused, though his tight-lipped frown was good at hiding it. "Is he still there?"

Silver nodded. "He's sleeping because his body gave up on him. We came to find you so you could possibly heal his weak muscles with the emerald you have." And to convince Sonic that everything wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Shadow was sure as hell going to see this for himself, but he didn't know about healing just yet. "Let's go, then."

Rouge smirked at him. "What, not going to tell the Commander goodbye?"

Shadow lowly grunted at that, and Sonic chuckled because honestly, Towers should know better.

Tails stepped away from the group, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder. "You all go ahead!" He had to get some kind of aircraft because right now, it felt like a piece of him was missing. "I gotta ask these guys if they have any planes I could fix up."

Sonic stifled a laugh. "I bet _that's_ the real reason you came out here with me! Make sure you pick out a fast one!"

Tails rolled his eyes, but before he could properly respond, Shadow pulled on the power from the emerald in his quills and teleported the four of them away.

Shadow's surroundings morphed from an industrial building to a homey living room. He looked around for Mephiles, his guard unconsciously up, but there was no sign of him.

Seeing this, Sonic bobbed his head in the direction of the sleeping shadow 'hog. "He's in Cream's room, second door on the left."

Shadow barely acknowledged him, taking powerful strides out of the room with an interested Rouge following in his footsteps.

Blaze, having heard the interaction, paused in helping the rabbits clean the dishes and stepped out of the kitchen. She glanced at disappearing wings before regarding the two hedgehogs. "Does Shadow know anything about what's happening?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah, it's still a big mystery."

Blaze didn't know how she felt about that, the ghost of a frown marring her muzzle. Before she could reply, Silver asked, "Where's Rosy and TT?" He was scanning the room, searching for the duo.

"The Chaotix got a job, and they left to join them." Blaze informed as she wiped her damp hands on her dress. "Which is healthy because-"

The conversation screeched to a sudden halt when a powerful explosion shook the house to its very foundations. Multiple shouts filled the air as dust rained from the ceiling. Blaze was tense as she glanced back at the rabbits, who were staring at her with shocked eyes. Once the feline saw that they were physically okay, she locked gazes with a stunned Sonic and Silver.

Like a flare had gone off, all of them ran down the hallway.

* * *

"I didn't think that they were lying, but seeing is _truly_ believing."

Shadow barely registered Rouge's awed tone. His hand was gripped tightly around the doorknob, sharp scarlets trained on nothing but the blanketed figure quietly breathing in the bed in front of him.

Mephiles' head was partially tucked under the warmth, but the heavy scarring was there for all to see. Images of blistering flesh and empty eye sockets flashed in Shadow's mind, making his teeth clench.

If he hadn't known any better, he would've believed that Mephiles just had a bad encounter with a flamethrower, _not_ been caught point blank with a massive explosion that took his life in an instant.

That was the problem. He _knew_ better.

Mephiles should be dead, period. But no, he was softly snoring in a bed, sleeping the morning away like he hadn't been surrounded by tears and _buried._

If it had been anyone but him, Shadow would've had more positive feelings about this. He wouldn't feel cautious with his quills threatening to bristle. Mephiles was different. He wasn't _him_ in the slightest. He shouldn't show signs of _immortality._

And yet, here they were.

"Penny for your thoughts, hon?"

He could feel Rouge's inquisitive eyes on him, waiting for a response. Shadow didn't spare her a glance, not looking away from the sleeping hedgehog. "Don't go any closer. Just stay here until I'm done." He didn't expect anything to happen because it was _Mephy_ , but…

Rouge didn't have it in her to argue. If the sight was a bit unnerving to her, it had to pale in comparison to what Shadow was feeling. She nodded in compliance instead.

Shadow relaxed his hold on the doorknob as he stepped farther into the room. He made minimal noise as he moved, and Mephiles stayed asleep, blissfully unaware of them.

At the bedside, Shadow held out his hand and hesitated for a moment before slowly uncovering the other, revealing more burn scars scattered across Mephiles' chest. When Shadow managed to get the blankets all the way off, Mephy moved.

The red-striped hedgehog watched intently as Mephiles silently groaned, turning to lie on his side and slightly curling to make up for the loss of heat.

Shadow could now see why the other's body had failed him. The deterioration of his muscles was visible, and it wasn't like Mephiles had been the healthiest person previously, either. He could strengthen the muscles already there, but Mephiles would have to rebuild muscle tone himself.

The Ultimate Lifeform tried to see or feel something off about the hedgehog in front of him, but there was nothing. With the exception of somehow being _alive_ , there wasn't anything strange.

Shadow took a deep breath before holding his hands out, hovering them above one of the other's legs. Chaotic energy flowed from his quills to his fingertips, the familiar tingling giving the hedgehog the go-ahead.

He hadn't healed for a second before something shot by in the corner of his eye. Shadow didn't have a chance to process the movement, for a booming blast from behind launched him forward with a yell.

Shadow tumbled over the bed and crashed hard into the opposite wall, sinking to the floor with his ears ringing. He hissed as he rubbed his right temple – it had taken the brunt of the hit – and snapped his attention up only for his breath to hitch.

The room was disheveled with dressers knocked over and blankets blown off the bed. Mephiles was splayed out beside him, his eyes scrunched closed, and Rouge was slumped across the space, as stunned as the red-striped hedgehog was.

They weren't looking at each other, but rather the pulsating Chaos emerald painting the walls a dull crimson. It was floating in the air with a wispy darkness swirling quickly around it, the shadows dancing across the room.

Shadow was frozen, his brain not able to comprehend what was happening… until the splits started to appear.

A whipping _snap_ impinged his ears as a crack marred the crystalline surface of the emerald. It sounded so unnatural and _wrong_ that Shadow had to resist the urge to flinch when it happened again and again and _again._ At this point, the jewel was vibrating violently, like it was trying to shake free of whatever was attacking it.

It was when the cloudy shadows began to dig into the emerald like an unwanted parasite that Shadow made a move, ignoring the numerous shocked gazes peering into the room.

Shadow hopped to his feet and rushed for the gem. He didn't know what he was going to do, but this was better than just sitting there and _watching_ the emerald be destr-

His throat constricted when he was hit with another deafening shock wave straight to the chest, crashing the back of his head against the wall without hesitation.

Shadow leaned forward as frantic voices filled the air. He disregarded the painful pounding where his skull had made contact, instantly zeroing on the emerald.

"What…?" he breathed out, for the gem had been _drastically_ changed from its half-powered state.

It was glowing fiercely like it hadn't been affected by the Master Emerald, but at the same time, its color was subdued. The crimson from before was now a sickly magenta with contrasting black stripes that rippled across the surface.

The most concerning difference was that while it was still vibrating, there were… Shadow couldn't call them anything but _glitches._

The only answer to his question was the gem shining brighter before promptly disappearing; and reappearing over the bed, and then in the corner of the room, by the window, in the doorway, causing those there to instinctively jump back, and back to the center of the space.

The jewel glowed even brighter until it was almost blinding. It twitched aggressively in the air before producing a low, upsetting sound that caused Shadow's insides to twist. An aura of inverted and nauseating swirls surrounded the gem, and a moment later, it was gone.

The room was silent except for the shallow breaths of everyone who had witnessed.

"That…" Sonic, standing in the doorway, couldn't finish his statement because he had no words.

Thankfully, Rouge had some. "Shadow." Her brain was replaying a particular scene over and over when the striped hedgehog glanced over to her. She got to her feet, testing her wings to make sure they weren't broken from that crash landing. Her eyes were fixed on the blue-striped hedgehog beside her partner. "Whatever attacked the emerald… came out of him."

All attention was on Mephiles, who was relaxed on the floor, sleeping like nothing had happened.

Silver cut his eyes over at Sonic and thickly whispered, "I told you so."

The blue hedgehog didn't have a chance to collect all of his scattered thoughts, for another coughing fit wracked Mephiles' system. The striped hedgehog rolled onto his stomach before lethargically propping himself up on his hands and knees, his chest heaving.

Cream couldn't see much with Sonic, Silver, and Blaze in her way, but hearing the choked wheezes were more than enough for her to suggest, "I'll go get him some water!"

"Don't." The bunny paused in her steps, sharing an unsure look with her mother at Shadow's inarguable tone. "Just leave us alone for a moment. _All_ of you."

At first, no one moved, everyone staring at Mephiles trying to catch his breath on the floor. Rouge then figured that they would possibly get some answers if they left the two by themselves. "You heard the man," she said, walking over to the doorway and gripping the doorknob. "Let's give them some alone time."

"But-" Cream attempted to protest, but Sonic gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about Mephy, Cream!" Sonic placated. "He'll be fine in a bit, and Shadow will get him through it, _not_ doing anything drastic, right, Shads?" He aimed the latter part of his sentence at the red-striped hedgehog. Shadow didn't answer him, his hard stare on the shadow 'hog in front of him.

Blaze unknowingly had the same thoughts as Rouge. Shadow could figure out what was going on here and whether or not they should have their defenses up because that darkness was… worrisome, to say the least. "Just remember who he is," were Blaze's parting words before she made her way back to the living room.

Cream and Vanilla hesitantly followed her along with a slightly anxious Silver. Sonic left after one last look, and Rouge softly closed the door behind her, giving the two striped hedgehogs space.

Shadow clenched his fists at his sides, tuning out the coughs. He shot his hand out and gripped what remained of Mephiles' chest hair, hauling him up to his wobbly feet.

Mephy's expression twisted up in pain, and it was only then that he opened his eyes. Even though Shadow suspected that he'd regained sight _somehow_ , the sight of those green irises still threw him for a loop.

Mephiles was covering his mouth with a trembling arm now, struggling to restrain his wheezes. Shadow ignored his condition and scowled, searching for any kind of telltale hints. All he needed was a flash of contempt, spite; hell, just a _spark_ of reluctant recognition to make this place a war zone.

Fortunately – or unfortunately – he got none of that.

There was recognition alright, but there was nothing but confusion and slight discomfort there. Shadow's scowl lost some of its bite; however, his glare didn't let up, and his hold stayed firm. "What did you do to the emerald?" he growled out.

Mephiles' brow furrowed as he slowed his raspy breaths, slowly but surely recovering from his episode. He raised his hands to sign, " **What emerald?"** When no comprehension showed on Shadow's face, he instead grabbed Shadow's wrist and weakly tried to loosen the grip.

"What emerald?" Mephy mouthed a second after, a couple shallow coughs escaping him as his green orbs drifted to the unkempt room. Surprise filled his veins at the condition of it. "What…happened?"

" _You_ happened," Shadow borderline snapped, regaining the attention of his captive.

Mephiles was oblivious, a frown marring his muzzle. "I was asleep! I couldn't have-"

"But you _did_." Shadow argued, baring his teeth. "You know _exactly_ what you did to the emerald, so _spit it out!"_

The blue-striped hedgehog was gaping like a fish out of water now, wincing at his shouted words. Despite how much Shadow was pushing, Mephiles still shook his head, silently denying that it was his fault; at least, he didn't _recall_ it being his fault.

Shadow coldly narrowed his scarlets at the other, causing him to fidget under the scrutinizing stare. The Ultimate Lifeform then closed them, exhaling harshly. He mentally shifted through all that he had learned.

Mephiles had control over shadows, and those shadows drastically changed the appearance and state of a Chaos emerald that was nowhere to be found. To make things more complicated, Mephiles had _no_ recollection of doing any of that.

Shadow reopened his eyes to see Mephiles looking around the room once more, confusion and concern etched into his features. It seemed sincere enough to get Shadow wondering if he was going about this all wrong.

Mephiles had the ability to move in the shadows, but what if his powers didn't stop there? Because of Shadow's damned imagination, who _knew_ what latent abilities Mephiles had. It was possible that it took dying, coming _back to life_ , and healing with a half-powered Chaos emerald to bring them to light, throwing things out of whack.

The other _him_ had been immortal and had precise control over shadows, so if even a sliver of that power was in Mephy, then…

 _But why did the emerald change into_ _ **that**_ _, though?_

That was a question neither he nor Mephiles could possibly answer.

Gritting his teeth, Shadow suddenly let his captive go, causing Mephy to silently gasp and lean on the nearby wall for support. Shadow watched him struggle to keep himself from falling flat on the ground before asking, "Did you have any additional abilities than just dissolving into shadows?"

Mephiles blinked at him until the question registered. He shook his head.

"Well, you might now." At least, Shadow hoped so because the alternative was a nightmare he never wanted to relive. The agent reached out and gripped the other's upper arm. "Let's go." They had to share this with the rest, and _somehow_ find that damned Chaos emerald.

Shadow strode toward the door, his pace fast enough to cause the unready Mephiles to stumble after him, but not fast enough so that Shadow was basically dragging him along.

The Ultimate Lifeform grabbed the doorknob and paused. He glanced at the silently panting hedgehog, who had a plethora of emotions clashing on his face. It wasn't until Mephiles eventually met his gaze that Shadow uttered, "Welcome back."

All of the emotions were still there, swirling around in those reptilian irises, but Mephy nodded in acknowledgment anyway, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Shadow grunted before walking out of the room with the striped one in tow, planning on keeping an eye on him until there were no doubts.

Work could wait.

* * *

Grey yawned loudly as he stumbled his way into the kitchen, rubbing his sleep-heavy eyes. "Hey," he rasped to the other occupant of the room, not caring about his severe bedhead at the moment. "Whatcha doing, Charmy?"

Said bee was yawning as well, having gotten up only a couple of minutes before the psychic did. CB stood in front of their open refrigerator, peering at its contents with droopy wings. "Looking to see what we'll have for breakfast…"

Grey scoffed as he plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs, stretching his arms over his head. "Yeah? Not like we got a lot to choose from." They had milk and a box of cereal. Not exactly the breakfast for kings or hedgehogs who were _really_ hungry. Grey groaned as he rested his forehead on the table. "Cereal's nice and all, but-"

CB's gasp cut off his sorrow-filled rant, the bee reaching inside the fridge and pulling out a brown carton. "We got eggs!"

Happiness replaced any negativity the psychic had in him. "We got eggs?"

"We got eggs!" CB repeated just as blissfully.

"Yes!" Grey would've yelled that at the top of lungs, but he remembered the crocodile and bat still sleeping in the back. He chose to do a little dance in his seat instead, cheering quietly.

He then floated over by the bee – drowsiness gone from his system by this point – and took hold of the carton with his powers. Either VC or Rogue had gotten these last night. Whoever did it deserved like, ten trophies.

"Hey!" CB pouted once the eggs were out of his hands. "I wanna cook them! We both know that I'm better at eggs than you are!"

"Mine are just fine!" Grey was borderline pouting as well, holding the breakfast food close to his body so the bee couldn't pry them away. "It's an acquired taste!"

CB wasn't so sure. "I don't think that anyone learns to like burnt food, Silver!" He grabbed the hedgehog's arm to yank, but the combination of just waking up, the psychic using his powers, and being six led to failure in that little retrieval mission.

"I don't burn them! They're overcooked for _flavor._ " Grey laughed at the bee's puffed cheeks. "How about this: let's be irresponsible and cook all of these so that Rogue and Vector can judge whose is better when they get up?"

CB's yellow eyes sparkled. "Heck yeah!"

They high-fived each other, snickering.

However, before the duo could began their cook-off, there was a weird garbled sound behind them that made Grey's fur stand on end. Then, something clanked onto the table out of sight.

Grey's heart leapt into his throat because what in the _heck_ was _that_ , while CB's curiosity got the better of him, leading him to whirl around instantly. The bee's jaw immediately dropped, and he breathed out an awed, "Whoa…"

Since whatever had appeared hadn't killed him or CB in some horrid way, Grey cautiously peeked over his shoulder and creased his brow at what he saw. It was like a Chaos emerald, but it… wasn't. It felt different, looked different, and just sent all of the wrong vibes through him.

Apparently, CB felt none of that. He quickly hovered over to the stone, taking a closer look at it. "Is this a Chaos emerald? Look, Silver! It's vibrating and all static-y!"

Grey nodded, cocking his head at the foreign object as he placed the eggs on the counter. "It's hard to miss, but don't touch-"

The rest of his words died in his throat when CB palmed the gem, and suddenly, they weren't alone in the kitchen anymore. Grey nearly forgot how to breathe as the bee flew backwards in shock until he was by the psychic's side again.

"Ch-Charmy, are you seeing-"

"Y-Yeah…"

There, occupying their formerly empty kitchen table, were three familiar faces who _weren't_ supposed to be there. They were…They were all _gone_ , so how-

"What's wrong with you two?" Grey's ears folded downward, and CB's eyes widened at the feminine voice they hadn't heard in a _long_ while and hadn't expected to hear ever again. A pair of chocolate irises were staring quizzically at the frozen duo. "And wow, nice bedheads!"

Grey had no words as he tried to process the bunny in their kitchen because it was Cream. _Their_ Cream. Her ears were tied up and there was a joking smile on her face and there weren't any _bullet holes._

At their silence, Cream furrowed her brow, chewing some scrambled eggs out of the bowl in front of her. "Really though, what's the matter? If you guys aren't talking, there's something seriously wrong!" A frown marred her muzzle as Grey felt his eyes watering up. The bunny faced her neighbor who was sitting on top of the table with a small bowl of his own. "Cheese? Got any idea?"

The blue chao – with cheeks stuffed with egg that smelled _delicious_ to the silent onlookers – narrowed his beady eyes, scrutinizing the pair. He then shrugged with a simple, "Chao."

Cream shot him a playful glare. "You're no help, mister!" The bunny regarded the third member of the table. "Mephy? What about you?"

CB released a weak whimper when Mephiles paused in his eating to shift his attention onto the hedgehog/bee pair, concern present in his expression. The striped hedgehog then pointed to two extra bowls at the table, raising a questioning brow.

Grey couldn't keep the tears from flowing down his face because they were back and _alive._ He didn't know how, but – Wait. The psychic glimpsed down at the gem in CB's tight grip, the bee on the verge of crying as well. Was it the Chaos emerald that was doing this? Since when-

"Wait, why are you crying, Silver?" Cream hopped out of her seat, her chair screeching backwards. She looked between Grey and CB in worry before sharing a glance with Mephiles, who was fretting and biting his bottom lip. Even Cheese was concerned now, tilting his head at them.

"Don't cry!" Cream stepped forward, a placating smile on her face. "I don't know why you are, but-" The bunny perked up when there was a meow from under the table. "Oh yeah! I bet she'd cheer you guys right up!"

Grey and CB gasped loudly at the same time when the bunny crouched under the table and stood back up, holding a mewing kitten in her hands.

"B-Blaze!" Grey stuttered out, more wetness staining his muzzle.

Cream giggled as she skipped over to him, Blaze seeming happier the closer she got. "See? What did I tell you! Though you _are_ still crying…"

The bunny stopped in front of the duo, holding the purple kitten up to them. At first, they didn't move. Instead, CB finally found his words. "How-" He blinked, using one hand to wipe away the dampness. "Blaze, Cream, Cheese, Mephy… H-How are you guys back?"

Mephiles was approaching with Cheese floating beside him, the hedgie's face showing no signs of being burnt beyond repair. "Back?" the striped hedgehog mouthed. "What do you mean, Charmy?"

"You – all of you _died!_ " Grey answered for the bee, not caring how his tears blurred his vision. He refocused on a squirming Blaze. "And she…we left her." His voice was barely audible at this point as he reached out to pet the kitten.

He touched nothing but air.

Blaze was gone, along with Cream, Cheese, Mephiles, and any hints of the cooked eggs. They were gone like they never had been there in the first place. The chair was back in position, the savory scent in the air was absent, and Grey felt like his heart had just been torn out of him.

"No… _nonono!"_ Grey ran forward, panting harshly. He had been _so close._ "Where did they go?! What happened? Charmy-!" The psychic whirled around to question the bee, but he couldn't.

Because CB and the emerald were gone too.

* * *

 **Writing this story is going to be** _ **so**_ **much fun, I tell ya.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **So, the end of last chapter confused a lot of people, hopefully this one will clear some of that up?**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 7- Wants and needs**

Grey was fighting hard to keep from hyperventilating, but it was a losing battle because CB was _gone._

The psychic's thoughts were a whirlwind as he stared where the bee had been floating just a moment before. Tears were matting his fur as his breathing stuttered, his emotions all over the place. First, he got hit with Cream, Mephiles, and Blaze making an impossible appearance, and now the kidwas…

Who _knew_ where he was. He could be lost, afraid, or _stranded_ ; and Grey had no idea how to get to him. And – And that emerald was still with him. The emerald that gave him a chill and he told CB not to touch it and-

Grey gritted his teeth to stifle a whine, pulling on his ears. He had to calm down. CB wouldn't be found if he was panicking like this. It would be fine; _he_ would be fine.

The psychic's respiration evened out, and his heart stopped beating like a crazed jackhammer. As his mind began to clear up, Grey thickly swallowed.

 _Okay,_ he sorted out his thoughts. _Okay, that thing looked like a Chaos emerald. Shadow can track those, right? But I have no idea where he is… Penumbra!_ Grey straightened up, a mental lightbulb flashing on. _Penumbra can track it, and I know exactly where he's gotta be._

Resolve set, the psychic didn't hesitate in using his powers to fly out of the kitchen and eventually out of the apartment altogether.

* * *

They were quiet as they waited.

Vanilla and Cream were sitting on the couch in the living room, the latter leaning against her mom while fidgeting with the water bottle in her grip. Blaze was beside them, watching the liquid swish inside the bottle, but her gaze was faraway.

Rouge was leaning on the wall closest to the hallway, arms crossed with a finger tapping her bicep. Her ears were perked, listening for any disturbances in the back of the home. Silver was the same, resting against the arm of the sofa to the left of Blaze. The wariness was clear in his expression.

Sonic could understand why the atmosphere was so heavy. For the rabbits, they were just confused about what was going on, out of the loop completely, but for the rest of them, there could be something dark coming to light.

Sonic didn't know what to think as he leaned on the same wall as Rouge. If he hadn't met Mephy here beforehand, the reanimation, the swirling shadows, and the weirdly changed Chaos emerald would have automatically made him jump to the worst conclusion. He was sure that flashbacks of _Mephiles_ would've ruined the relaxing day, making his quills stand on end.

However, that hadn't been the case. Sonic _had_ met Mephy before he passed out, and he could bet everything he owned that there was something else going on here that wouldn't require any extreme responses. Sure, what he had witnessed sent a subtle chill down his spine because what had happened to the emerald wasn't exactly natural; yet Sonic couldn't say that he was worried.

He simply wanted answers, for a lot of questions had been popping up lately.

"They've been in there for a while." Silver practically whispered, his concern obvious in the way his voice wavered. Sonic couldn't blame him. Despite meeting Mephy, the psychic had been iffy in the first place, and this was nothing but icing on the cake.

"It's only been a couple of minutes." Blaze seemed to escape from her thoughts, giving the white hedgehog a pointed yet understanding look. "We shouldn't interfere with what Shadow's doing."

"But-"

"Just hang tight a bit, Silver," Sonic suggested with a placating smile. Silver's gaze held the tiniest sliver of annoyance, and the blue hero went on to say, "Do you really think that Shads needs any help in there?"

Silver's stare was calculating until it drifted back over to the hallway. His fingers were curled, stiff. "We all needed it before in dealing with…" he trailed off with a sigh.

Sonic absently tapped his foot, shrugging. "Well, it sounds all peaceful back there. That's gotta count for somethin', right?" He decided to share his thoughts, wanting this heavy atmosphere gone. "Personally, I don't think it's what got you all worried." They hadn't told Cream about that whole Soleanna disaster because honestly, it was good enough nightmare fuel and she hadn't needed to know.

Blaze caught onto his vagueness, knowing that the rabbits were listening in her peripheral. "Even so-" She seemed no better than Silver, only more dedicated in masking whatever doubts she had so they weren't worn on her sleeve. "-it isn't _nothing._ We all saw what happened."

Sonic was ready to counter, smirking. "I mean, yeah, but you saw how Mephy was acting before he conked out. Nothin' suspicious, right?" Not one thing had been off about his personality.

Silver dismissed the evidence. "That's a weak explanation because when I first met _him_ , nothing had been suspicious either." His expression darkened at the reminder, and he nibbled his bottom lip.

The blue hero resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I'm sure suspicion was written _all_ over him, but you two just, uh… had a lapse in judgment."

While neither Blaze nor Silver could argue that, the psychic wasn't going to give up on his argument. "But Rouge saw-"

"I saw what I saw, yes." Rouge cut into the conversation, her tone nonchalant with an unidentifiable undertone. "It doesn't prove anything though, hon. It could be this, or it could be that, we don't know until they show their faces." The bat's lips twitched upwards in a smirk when footsteps echoed down the hall. "Speaking of…."

All eyes focused on Shadow and Mephiles as they entered the living room.

There were no signs of confrontation on either hedgehog, physical or otherwise. Shadow was wearing a frown, but he was more pensive than angry or antagonistic. Mephiles' frown was less prominent, nothing but puzzlement etched in his expression as he was led out by Shadow's firm grip.

Mephiles could immediately detect that the atmosphere had drastically changed since he had tried to work out his muscles. Most of the gazes had a certain edge to them that wasn't present before. Mephy managed to throw Rouge an amiable smile – and the bat returned it friendly enough – as his thoughts raced.

It was a given that he had done something wrong when he had been asleep… somehow. The room he had been in looked like a tornado had passed through, apparently it was his fault that a Chaos emerald had been messed with, and now Shadow was telling him that he could possibly do more than just melt into shadows. He didn't understand; he hadn't felt _anything_.

"Mr. Mephiles!" Cream hopped off the couch and bounded over to the blue-striped hedgehog. She didn't know what her friends were talking about before, but all she wanted was for Mephiles to be alright. "Are you okay?" The bunny held up the water bottle. "I heard you coughing before, so here's some water!"

Mephy smiled in appreciation, but before he could take the offering, Shadow guided him over to the empty spot on the sofa. "I'm not going to be holding you up all day."

Mephiles had no choice but to comply; it wasn't like he was going to refuse to give his legs a break, and Cream didn't mind at all. "He can take my seat! He needs it more!"

The shadow 'hog pleasantly sighed once he sat on the cushions, not having to exert his wobbly leg muscles anymore. On his right, Vanilla's expression was warm as was Blaze's on his left. However, with the feline, there was something underneath that made him wonder _exactly_ what he'd done. Silver side-eyeing him made his curiosity skyrocket.

Sonic watched as Cream handed over the open bottle, Mephiles' gratitude unquestionable. Yeah, the other Mephiles had nothing to do with this. "So…" Emerald irises shifted over to Shadow, raising a questioning brow. "What's the verdict, Shads? I'd say it's pretty good since everything's hunky-dory!"

The Ultimate Lifeform folded his arms across his chest, knowing that Sonic wasn't the only one waiting on an answer. "Some of his latent powers seemed to have come to light," he said, jumping straight to the point. At the shocked stares he received, Shadow explained, "Because of how the doubles were created, it's possible that he might have the same abilities his twin had _._ "

Sonic and Rouge were the only two in the room able to comprehend all that was thrown at them. It was a little shock to the system, but when it all sunk in, Rouge commented, "Well, that explains the floating shadow… a bit. But, what about him coming to life? Is that-"

Shadow nodded. "That could be an ability he has as well."

All Sonic could do was whistle lowly.

However, the others in the room weren't satisfied with that explanation. There were more questions plaguing their minds.

Mephy almost didn't want to believe what he was hearing. He could have the same powers his _double_ had? The one who killed? The one who _they_ killed? And Shadow just said that he could have the power of _resurrection._ Could…Could he not die?

His hands clenched around the bottle and he swallowed thickly as the information processed.

"His double?" Cream spoke up, zeroing on that bit of information. She hadn't known that Mephy had a twin like everyone else. Why haven't they met him? If he was anything like the Mephiles she knew, they'd be great friends! "There's another Mr. Mephiles?"

"We'll explain it later, Cream," Blaze responded to her, hoping that the rabbit would forget she asked. The feline didn't focus on the bunny as she furrowed her brow at Shadow's words. "'Because of how the doubles were created'? What do you mean by that? Didn't they just come from another dimension, unable to go back?"

"That's like…half of it." Sonic snickered at the perplexed looks both Blaze and Silver gave him. He flipped a hand. "Long story short, Shadow created a dimension in his mind, and a Chaos emerald made it all kinda real. So basically, Shadow created all the doubles with his imagination! Trippy, right?"

Blaze was more lost than before, and Silver was just as confused. He shook his head, deeming that bit of info unimportant at the moment. "That's weird, but I don't care about the details of that right now." Silver glanced over at Mephiles, who was in his own little world, before locking eyes with Shadow. Even though his uncertainties were supposed to be put to rest, they still lingered because it was all too surreal. "Are you _completely_ sure that's the case? Without any doubts?"

Saying yes would be a lie, for there was a doubt Shadow couldn't explain himself. Even if Mephiles had unlocked new powers, _why_ would he attack a Chaos emerald? Shadow couldn't wrap his mind around that.

Silver's frown was growing more prominent, and Shadow knew that he was taking too long to answer for the psychic's liking. He opened his mouth to calm any nerves Silver had, but no words escaped his throat due to the unexpected pounding on the front door.

The sound made most of the heroes almost jump out of their skin.

"Hey! Is anyone home?" Silver's voice filtered in from outside. Silver whipped his head to face the door, wondering why Grey was here. Golden eyes glimpsed over to a surprised yet excited Mephiles, thinking the word had gotten out somehow. More knocks rattled his thoughts. "It's an emergency!" There was a hint of panic in the other psychic's tone now. "I need Nummy!"

Sonic chuckled as he zipped over to the door – Mephy's situation being temporarily pushed to the side – and muttered to himself, "Nummy's been pretty popular today, huh?" He yanked it open, and his enthusiastic welcome got caught in his throat at the wet, bloodshot eyes that greeted him.

Grey reached out and clamped his hands on Sonic's shoulders, shaking them. "Is Penumbra here? _Please_ tell me that he's here!"

"Uh…" Sonic blinked, his brow creasing. "No, he's not here, but what's going on? Why are you-"

He was interrupted by a gasp, Grey perking up as he peered at something over the blue speedster's shoulder. "Shadow! Even better!" The white hedgehog flew past Sonic, glad that there weren't any translation errors to worry about. Grey rushed in, ignoring the numerous eyes on him. "Shadow, you gotta help me!" He floated in front of the perplexed hedgehog, wiping away some wetness off his face. "You have to…"

Even though he had been solely focused on Shadow, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. His damp gaze snapped over to the couch, and he froze mid-air.

It was the same face he saw at the apartment. It was damaged, scarred like when he was found in the base, weary, and smiling. Mephiles was _smiling_ at him, his green irises shining with relief. The blue-striped hedgehog waved at Grey, and when he didn't instantly respond, the smile waned.

"What's wrong?" Silver ventured as Sonic closed the front door. The psychic for sure believed that seeing Mephiles would end with nothing but smiles and laughter, but Grey was emotionless and still. He looked between his twin and a concerned Mephy. "Grey?"

Grey didn't answer him, staring at Mephiles, or the _thing_ that was supposed to be Mephiles. "Is it here?" he rasped out, his eyes darting to different places around the room. The _only_ reason Mephiles was sitting on that couch and not resting in his grave was because of the emerald, right? It had to be. "Where is it? It _has_ to be here!"

Shadow wasn't in the mood to deal with this. The vagueness wasn't appreciated. "What in the hell are you talking about?"

"The emerald!" Grey burst out. "Is it here? Is _Charmy_ here?!"

"Charmy?" Silver repeated, flabbergasted.

"The emerald?" Rouge shared a look with Shadow, both of their guards being raised. The wacky emerald from before disappearing and Grey coming in mentioning an emerald couldn't be just a coincidence.

Shadow marginally narrowed his eyes at the frantic visitor. "Neither are here."

Grey slowly blinked. "Neither?" Shadow wasn't going to repeat himself, and the white hedgehog didn't expect him to. Grey's golden orbs were wide as they found Mephiles again. "So…he's _real?!_ "

Sonic's mind was spinning. "Yeah, he came back from the dead," he said, too bombarded to cushion the news. "But Grey, we gotta back up a sec because you've said some things that-"

"No _way!_ " Grey's loud gasp cut Sonic off, and the speedster inwardly pouted, tired of getting interrupted. The psychic looked over Mephiles in a new light because it was _him._ It wasn't a fake him that chatted with a dead Cream and ate eggs with a dead Chao. He didn't know how, but who cared?

Grey floated up to the blue-striped hedgehog, awe flooding his system. He reached out and squished a stunned Mephiles' cheeks. Grey couldn't believe it. Mephy was _here_ and not some…some fleeting trick! "You're alive!" His joyful laughter brought a small smile out of Mephy despite everything. "You're _alive!_ "

Putting his water bottle down, Mephiles gently pushed the psychic away before holding his hands up. He hesitated before deciding to go with it, happy to see the other not covered in blood as a result of being kidnapped. **"You haven't changed at all."**

"'Course I haven't!" Grey's grin was wide. He put a hand on his own forehead, chuckling. "Wow…the last time I saw you, y'know, _not_ dead was in the other dimension! This is-"

"As touching as this reunion is," Rouge had to interject before she went insane from the number of teasers dropped on all of their heads. "It's time to pump the brakes." Grey tilted his head at her, and she inwardly sighed. "Let's go back to the time you talked about the _bee_ being missing, a particular emerald, and you questioning whether Mephiles was real or not, shall we?"

Those words instantly triggered the welling up of tears. Grey whirled around to face Shadow, landing himself and taking a desperate step forward. "Th-That's what I came here for! Charmy's missing, and an emerald took him! I need y-you to track it down!"

Shadow's lips twitched downwards at that. "An emerald _took_ him?" Grey hastily nodded, running a stressed hand through his white quills. "What did it look like?"

"What it looked like? Does it even _matter?_ " Grey glared through the moistness. "Just _tell_ me if you can find it!"

"Purple coloring with black stripes?" Shadow bypassed arguing altogether, and it paid off when Grey paused, confusion swirling in his gaze. That was all the answer Shadow needed; he cursed under his breath. "Dammit."

"Wait…how did you know?"

"Because we've seen it before." Blaze glanced over to Mephiles, who warily stared back at her. "While you were asleep, you changed Shadow's Chaos emerald into something that destroyed Cream's room-" She refocused on Grey, not catching the guilt on Mephy's face. "-and mysteriously took CB."

"Are you – Are you _kidding_ me?!" Grey whirled on Mephiles, ready to go off because CB was gone and his heart had been ripped out, but at the contrite expression on the striped one's face, he couldn't do it. His body slumped. "I would be angry with you, Mephy, but I can't because you're back and I'm just really _really_ sad." He held his head in his hands. "First seeing fakes, and now this…?"

Sonic had been mentally running through ways to possibly find CB, which included getting Tails to build a tracker to locate the wayward gem or getting Knuckles to find the emerald with that rock of his, but the mentioning of 'fakes' peaked his curiosity. "Oh, right, about that, why did you ask if Mephy was real earlier?"

"Huh?" Grey blinked at him. "Um, because when Charmy touched the emerald, _my_ Blaze," He gestured to Shadow, " _our_ Cream, Cheese-" Cream stiffened at that, hand rubbing the bow tie around her wrist. "-and Mephiles without all the scarring showed up!"

"What?" Sonic couldn't comprehend that, and it seemed the rest of the room shared his sentiments. "They showed up after CB touched it? From my experience, no Chaos emerald has ever acted like that."

Silver jumped to his feet with celerity, staring at his double intensely. "Did the Mephiles you saw have a mouth?"

Grey looked at him like he was the crazy one. "Uh, yeah? What kind of question is that?"

Silver ran a relieved hand down his face, and Shadow completely understood why. "It doesn't matter," the black hedgehog stated, his attention on the upset Mephy. "Mephiles." Said hedgehog hesitantly looked up at him. "We need to find the kid and the emerald as soon as possible." The gem could conjure up _copies_ of people; that needed to be looked into. "Can you track it? I'm not able to." It was either too far away, or the energy itself had morphed into something unrecognizable. Either was equally plausible.

Grey sent him a disbelieving look before sending Mephiles a pleading glance.

Mephy had to get his own turmoil under control before he could even process what was being asked of him. _He_ had changed a Chaos emerald possibly for the worse and had caused CB to go _missing_. He'd barely been back for half a day, and he was already causing chaos. Just why-

" _Mephiles._ "

Shadow's sharp tone snapped him back into the conversation. He didn't even know how to hone in on an emerald. Was the feeling just there, or did the others do something to track it? Either way, Mephiles was regretfully coming up empty. He tensely shook his head, mouthing, "I…I can't."

Grey released a pitiful whine while Shadow – believing a certain echidna was needed – barked over at Sonic, "Faker-"

"Say no more!" Sonic grinned, shifting his weight toward the door. There was a walkie back at his house that could communicate with Knuckles on his island. "I'll get ahold of Knux to see if he can find 'im!" A slight breeze signified his departure.

"It should work." Rouge approached Shadow's side, regarding the emotional psychic. "Even though it's altered, the gem is still a beauty in its own way. I'm sure the Master Emerald would be able to show something."

"It better!" Grey huffed. "Because Charmy could be _anywhere_ right now with that thing!"

Mephiles' ears lowered as he signed, **"Sorry."**

Grey sighed. "It's not your – well, technically it is, but _I'm_ not blaming you for it. You were asleep, right? It's like me blaming Charmy for eating all of my ice cream while sleepwalking." He had done that once. "I was mad, but I couldn't exactly blame him."

It was clear that Mephy felt a little better, but guilt was still written all over his face.

Vanilla put a hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, sweeties. We'll find him," she said to both him and Grey, her tone sure. Cream was worried, but she nodded and beamed anyway. Grey couldn't help but to smile at the mother's warm aura, and Mephy managed to smile as well.

Shadow glanced over at his winged partner, muttering, "You should go find the kit. We might need him to make a tracker." He wanted the Master Emerald to work because it was usually more reliable, but just in case it didn't, they needed a ready backup.

Rouge put a hand on her hip. "And why can't you do it? You're much better at tuning out the Commander's 'lectures' than I am."

"Because I want to keep an eye on him," Shadow said lowly, the conversation Grey was having with Mephiles and Cream drowning out his words.

Rouge knew exactly who he was talking about. She eyed Shadow before shrugging. "Fine, but if he yells at me for more than five minutes, you owe me." Shadow simply grunted as she strolled over to the front door, waving over her shoulder. "I'm going to fetch Tails in case we need his help," she told everyone else. "Be back soon!"

When the door shut behind her, Blaze stood up. "While we wait for any information, I might as well go clean up Cream's room a bit."

"I can help," Silver suggested, and the feline gestured for him to follow.

However, when Cream and Mephiles simultaneously opened their mouths, Blaze shook her head with a tiny upward curl of her lips. "It's fine, you two. It won't take long."

"Thank you, Miss Blaze and Mr. Silver!" Cream chirped, grateful, while Mephy silently sighed, feeling bad that he caused the mess and wasn't able to really do anything until he got his strength up.

"No problem!" Silver grinned at her, going to follow Blaze down the hall. He paused for a second, his golds boring into watchful scarlets for a meaningful second – because he _knew_ Shadow wasn't sure – until the striped one looked away.

Once the pair reached the bedroom, Silver swept his gaze around all of the displaced objects. Before he went to work, he opened his mouth.

Blaze didn't let him get any words out. "Innocent until proven guilty, Silver." Her voice was quiet yet stern as she picked up a nearby stuffed animal.

Silver wasn't deterred. "I know, I know. But deep down, don't you feel that something's off? I don't know what it is, but…"

He trailed off when the cat glanced back at him. Silence reigned until Blaze shook her head. "We don't have any proof of anything." The slightly conflicted expression on her face revealed more than her words. She went back to cleaning. "Can you stand her dressers back up?"

It was good to know that Silver wasn't the only one iffy about this situation. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

CB gasped when bright sunlight impinged his eyes. He blinked rapidly as they adjusted, his breath hitching when he saw that he was in the middle of nowhere. He was surrounded by grassy hills and sporadic trees, and every direction he looked in was unfamiliar to him.

"Silver? Silver!" the bee called out as panic set in, hastily spinning around again to catch a glimpse of his friend _anywhere_. CB whimpered when he realized that he was very much alone with nothing but the sun, grass, trees, and…

CB swiftly glanced down at the gem held tightly in his hands, being instantly reminded of Cream, Cheese, Blaze, and Mephy who – who had disappeared too!

The kid hesitantly brought the emerald up to his face, watching it occasionally glitch while weakly vibrating in his hands. CB was _so_ confused. They had appeared when he had touched the jewel, so had they even been real? They were eating eggs that had appeared out of nowhere, so maybe? He needed someone to help him figure this out!

And he needed someone to take him back home…

He chewed on his bottom lip, his damp eyes threatening to get even wetter. No, he couldn't cry! He'd never find his way back if he stood around and cried. CB wiped away any tears, sniffing and pulling himself together.

The bee rotated the emerald in his hands, wondering how to work it. It had teleported him out here, so maybe it could take him back? But he didn't know how or why the gem took him!

Antennae twitching, CB cocked his head before tossing the gem into the air. It had activated after he'd touched it, so it should do the same this time. The bee caught the jewel and waited…and waited and waited. Nothing happened. None of his friends – neither alive nor dead – popped up, and he was still out here all alone, lost.

"C'mon, take me back!" CB shook the black-striped emerald. "I don't want to be out here!" Plus, he knew that Grey _had_ to be freaking out right now. There was no response, and desperation leaked into his tone. "I want to go back! _Please?!_ "

His location didn't change; he still felt the gentle breeze across his face.

CB choked back a sob because he had to stay strong. This wasn't like the time he had Nummy and VC at his side. He was completely by himself. If he couldn't stay confident and brave, then who would?

Okay, okay…he could do this. He just had to pick a direction and go. He'd run into a town or some people eventually!

CB hummed as he scanned the area. "That way!" He pointed in the direction of the rising sun. There was nothing over the horizon, but he couldn't be negative about this. "Just gotta follow the sun! That'll take me somewhere!" His antennae lowered when his stomach growled. "Hopefully somewhere with food…"

Holding the vibrating gem close to his body, CB fluttered his wings and took off.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he wished that he got to eat breakfast before the emerald had dropped him in the middle of who-knows-where.

CB groaned as he rubbed his stomach, feeling it basically try to eat itself. He had been _so_ close to chowing down on some eggs, and it didn't help that the gem had somehow cooked some at the apartment, allowing him to smell the yummy breakfast. All of that had disappeared, but his hunger was here to stay.

"Ughhhhhh." The bee pouted as he hovered, hating that there was no food around and that he hadn't seen one sign of life yet. Well, there was a road like _miles_ and _miles_ away in the distance, but it was so far away that it basically didn't even count. It was going to take _forever_ to get over there, and CB was sure that he was going to starve before he reached…

The kid's thoughts trailed off when he caught sight of something in the distance that definitely wasn't a car. However, it seemed to be moving the same speed as one.

CB squinted to focus on the moving object, making out something blue and black contrasting the green beneath them. His expression brightened once he figured out exactly what he was looking at, and with energy he didn't know he had, CB shot through the air hoping to get their attention before he lost them completely.

"Nummy!" he yelled as loud as he could, waving a hand back and forth. "Nummy, over here!"

Some distance away from the bee, Boom was hating his life. Because of that jackass of a jackal, he couldn't walk without feeling like he was being stabbed in the calf with a thousand knives. Well, more like a hundred, but it still hurt like _hell_.

Unfortunately, running wasn't an option until his injury got fixed up by Stripes, so to get back to Station Square as soon as possible, there was only one way left to do it.

Boom was currently riding piggy-back. Fantastic.

The azure hedgehog's mood was in the negatives as he was carried along, withholding any winces caused by his jostled ankle. It had been wrapped in gauze courtesy of an ambulance that had appeared on the scene, but the tiniest movement sent painful reminders that he'd been careless.

While Boom disliked everything about his situation, he guessed that it could be worse. For one, none of the _others_ were around to see him like this, and two, it was Penumbra carrying him, not anyone else. Penumbra hadn't teased him about this – no doubt didn't know _how_ to – in fact, he'd been quiet the whole journey back so far. Boom could appreciate that because he sure as hell didn't feel like talking.

Plus, there was little chance he was going to drop Boom – unlike a certain echidna he knew.

Though, maybe he'd been a little hasty in his opinion of his striped acquaintance because Penumbra inexplicably slowed down to a stop, ears twitching.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" Boom growled, debating whether or not to punch his only ride back. It might be worth it. "Don't stop! Keep going, dammit!"

"No, quiet," Penumbra answered as his brow furrowed, ears swiveling. Boom's quills bristled, but he didn't get to verbally retaliate with a few choice words when Nummy looked to the left. "Charmy?"

Boom took back everything good he thought about Stripes 2.0. " _Why_ would the damn kid be all the way out here?"

"I don't know." Penumbra peered back at him, a curious frown on his face. "You no hear him?"

"No!" Boom knew that the other's hearing was a little more advanced, but there was _no_ way a bee was here.

Nummy perked up as he fully faced left, his eyes searching for something. "I hear him! He call my name!" Boom huffed before following his line of sight, seeing nothing but blue skies, trees, and-

"Charmy!" Penumbra smiled at something in the distance, and Boom had to squint to find out what in the world he was looking at.

He didn't know which one it was, but the figure was indeed an effin' bee.

 _Dammit, he can't see me like this!_ Boom inwardly growled, disregarding that the kid had already seen his position. "Put me down!" he ordered Penumbra, but instead of listening to him, the striped hedgehog jogged in the direction of the child. "I _said_ put me down!" Boom repeated, trying and failing to separate himself from his carrier.

Penumbra's confused gaze landed on him. "Why? Your ankle is hurt!"

"Just _do_ it, bastard!"

Maroon irises narrowed at his scowl until Nummy shook his head. "No. Don't want you to hurt. Just stay on back, okay?"

"I'm _not_ going to repeat-"

"Hey, guys!" Boom's jaw clamped shut at the bee's yell. He could clearly hear the kid now, the space steadily closing between them. The closer they got to each other, Boom could see the immense relief in the bee's expression, the sheen of sweat on him, and the…Chaos emerald in his arms.

 _Why_ did he have a Chaos emerald?

"Hey, Charmy!" Penumbra mimicked as he decreased his speed, not noticing the gem at all as the bee grounded himself. Nummy's smile was welcoming, the opposite of Boom's glower. "Why are you here?"

"And which one are you?" Boom crisply asked, taking in the remnants of tears on the younger one's face. The hell happened to him? All signs pointed to that emerald, which was different from all the ones he had seen.

The blue speedster's brow creased as the kid pouted. "You still can't tell the difference? I'm the one who's known you the longest!" Boom simply grunted, all of his attention on the vibrating and glitching jewel because _that_ wasn't normal.

CB examined the two in front of him, thinking it was funny that Nummy was giving Boom a piggy-back ride. However, the bloodied bandages around Boom's leg told him that it wasn't just for fun. "Whoa! What happened to your leg?!"

"A mercenary-"

"It _doesn't matter,_ " Boom snarled over a startled Penumbra. Hard greens refocused on the bee. "You didn't answer his damn question. Why aren't you with the psycho?"

"He's not a psycho!" CB defended Grey with a pout before holding out the Chaos emerald. Boom looked over the weird gem, Penumbra doing the same with a small head tilt. "The emerald teleported me out here!"

"You Chaos Control?" Penumbra's tail twitched in excitement.

"No, you idiot." Boom shot that idea down because it was physically impossible for the bee to do that. "It's something else."

CB nodded. "Yeah!" He held the jewel closer to himself. "I didn't do anything! It just brought me here when I touched it!"

Some of Nummy's enthusiasm waned, replaced with interest. "You touch it first?"

"In my apartment!" the bee continued. "It just showed up there when me and Silver were about to make eggs!" A loud rumble filled the air, and CB rubbed his stomach. "Eggs sound _so_ good right now…"

" _Focus_." Boom nearly snapped, glaring. "You'll get your dumb breakfast later, but now, tell me _exactly_ what happened when you touched it." Chaos emeralds didn't warp people all willy-nilly. Something was seriously up, and Boom didn't have the time to deal with the bee's short attention span.

"I…didn't get teleported right away." CB's voice lowered, a glint of sadness in his eyes now. Penumbra frowned, concerned, as Boom listened aptly. "It did something weird before that. It – It showed me all of our friends who died! Mephy, Cream, Cheese, Blaze, all of them!"

Penumbra wanted to hug the bee because he was upset, but he couldn't because he was holding Boom. He went with the next best thing. "Not all dead." CB blinked at him, and he reassuringly smiled. "Mephiles is alive at Cream's house!"

The bee gaped. "Wait, what? He is?" Nummy nodded happily, and CB brightened up a bit, his attention on Boom for a second opinion. "Really?!"

Boom clenched his teeth at the reminder of who was possibly waiting for him at the rabbits' home. As soon as they found Stripes and got his ankle fixed, he was going to avoid that place like the plague. "Yeah," he shortly responded.

"Oh my gosh!" CB flipped in the air, radiating joy. "I can't believe it! But-" He calmed down. "What about the others? Are they back too?"

Penumbra glanced back at him, waiting for an answer as well. "No." Boom pictured the rabbits' covered grave. They'd been untouched. The kid slumped, and the blue speedster focused on the gem in his hold. "I don't know what that emerald showed you, but it wasn't real."

"Aw, seriously?" CB rubbed the back of his neck, disappointed. "They seemed like it, though! They talked and everything…"

The more the bee spoke, the more Boom thought this was some inane dream.

"Don't be sad!" Penumbra tried to get rid of the negativity. "You'll meet Mephiles when we go!" Boom inwardly scoffed at the 'we' part. "He'll be happy to see you!" He shared a grin with the bee before studying the mysterious gem. "Can I touch?"

Boom couldn't get his strong _no_ out in time, the bee nodding and holding the jewel up to Penumbra's hand since he couldn't move them much.

Boom's breath caught in his throat when the sunlit green hills around them morphed into a shaded industrial alleyway. The azure hedgehog was speechless at the traffic he heard in the background, the smell of rotting trash, and the _extremely_ familiar sight of the alley he and Penumbra had just left behind.

"The _fuck?!_ " he exclaimed, muscles tensing up. Why – _How_ were they back here? Boom's wide eyes snapped down at the emerald now fully in a gawking Penumbra's hand. The jewel was doing this; whatever this _was._

A loud shout rattled his already wired nerves. Boom whipped his head around to see CB covering his mouth in shock before rushing to hide behind the hedgehogs, peeking warily and pointing with a shaky finger.

Boom followed his digit until he found what had caused such a response out of the bee. He promptly froze.

It was the jackal. Instead of riding in the back of a cop car like he should be doing, he was sprawled out in the middle of the alleyway. Blood was dripping down from his temples, creating a shallow puddle beneath him. His neck was bent at an odd angle, broken, and his eyes were open yet unseeing. He was deathly still.

"W-Who…Who is that?" the bee stuttered out, voice hushed.

Boom's brain hadn't finished processing everything yet, but Penumbra's seemed good to go. "He a mercenary." Nummy took a step forward, and the ghost of a pleased grin grew on his muzzle. "He attacked Sonic and did bad things. It's good that he dead."

CB was lost. "But-"

"It doesn't matter because this isn't _real._ " Boom's voice came out more strained than he'd liked. "It's the emerald that's doing this shit. It's making us _see_ what-" Boom was interrupted by the curiosity that painted Nummy's face. The gem was abruptly shoved into one of the azure hero's hanging hands.

Their surroundings changed once more, and they were back at the rabbits' home.

CB stepped closer to Penumbra, his mind reeling. "We're at Cream's house!" They were standing in the doorway leading to the kitchen, to be more specific. The bee's eyes scanned the room, seeing that it was empty except for one hedgehog at a table. He gasped. "Mephy?!"

The blue-striped anthro perked up at his name, looking over and meekly smiling at the bee. CB was speechless, because unlike before, this Mephy had scarring all around his face and chest. "Is that what he really looks like…?"

Penumbra nodded, waving at Mephiles, who genially waved back. "Yes! He had been hurt, but is better now."

Mephy gave a brief thumbs up at Nummy's words, but as soon as he made eye contact with an immobile Boom, his disposition drastically shifted.

The smile was gone, replaced with a cold tight-lipped frown. All warmth in his green gaze dissipated, being smothered by hot anger and loathing.

CB blinked in surprise. "Why does he look like that?"

"Don't know." Penumbra was at a loss as well, wondering why Mephiles was this mad when he'd never seen him this way before. "Sonic?"

Boom couldn't talk, guilt and shock sucking all of the air out of him. It didn't help that Mephiles had gotten up with shaking limbs, the hatred aimed at no one but the speedster. Mephy's hands were stiff as they moved. **"You did this to me."**

Boom swallowed before getting himself together because this was fake. _All_ of it. "You're not real."

" **But you want me to be, right?"** Boom didn't think it was possible, but every single ounce of hate in him was poured out in his movements. **"You want me to** _ **despise**_ **you. You want me to be furious, to** _ **retaliate**_ **, so you'd stop hating yourself so much."**

Boom's teeth ground together because he wasn't wrong _._ Mephiles deserved to be angry at him for what he did, not _forgiving_ and treating Boom like he hadn't _killed him._

He didn't deserve it.

He deserved the rage, the glares, the distrust, but not like this.

Boom yanked his hand away from the emerald and it dropped to the ground. They were back standing in the grassy hills, the sun shining down on their stiff stances.

They were quiet with Boom nearly panting. All of them were staring at the gem resting in the grass in various degrees of shock.

The blue anthro was the first to speak, pushing all that just happened out of his mind. "It shows you what you want to see." He urged his voice to get stronger as CB and Penumbra focused on him. Boom glanced at the bee. "You wanted to see them alive, so you did." Then at Nummy. "You wanted to see him dead, so you did. I don't know what the hell's going on with this emera-"

"Wait…" Boom's stare heated when CB interjected, not appreciating the concern in the kid's expression. "What about you, though? I couldn't catch all that Mephy said, but-"

"Don't mention it _ever_ _again_ to _anyone_." Boom's words were sharp and deliberate, hoping that the bee caught his unspoken threat.

Penumbra was oblivious. "What did Mephiles say, Charmy?"

"What did _I_ just say?!" Boom spat, causing Nummy to flinch and lower his ears. The injured hedgehog glared at the both of them. "Now moving _on._ " Boom eyed the emerald. Would it activate again, or was it just a one-time thing? The bee had been holding it without any effects earlier. "Penumbra, try to heal me with it." It still _looked_ like a Chaos emerald, even though it wasn't acting like one, from what he knew at least.

It was worth the try, because he'd like to stand on his own damn feet again.

Nummy didn't respond right away, instead muttering, "Are you sad?"

"Fuck _off_ with that and just heal me!" Boom snarled harshly and yanked one of the hedgehog's quills.

Penumbra hissed at the stinging pain. "Mean! Okay, okay! I'll heal." He weakly glared before carefully setting Boom on the ground. Nummy hesitated in palming the gem again, nothing happening once it was in his grip.

"It's _so_ weird!" CB whispered, hovering in the air around the duo.

Boom winced as he unwrapped his ankle, holding the bloodied bandage away from the wide cut.

CB flinched at the sight, almost wanting to look away from the still leaking wound. That had to _hurt._ The guy who they had run into caused the injury? Yeah, what he did was awful, but he wasn't really dead, right? Boom made it seem that way…

With the gem in one hand, Penumbra squatted down and positioned his unoccupied fingers over the nasty cut. He felt familiar energy swirling within the rock, so he pulled on it like he always did.

A booming shock wave blew them all back.

Three yells filled the air as the three were launched in separate directions.

Boom grunted in pain when he rolled across the grass, the deep cut on his ankle not agreeing with the harsh movement. He quickly came to a stop on his stomach and propped himself up, seeing CB and Penumbra recover from the blast.

"Owww," the bee whined, holding his head.

Boom didn't pay any attention to him, his focus needed elsewhere. He went rigid at the sight of the striped emerald vibrating violently above the ground. The world seemed to distort around it, producing an upsetting sound that plastered blue and black ears against their owners' heads.

Then the emerald vanished.

CB gaped like a fish. "It's…It's gone!"

"No shit." Boom glared over at Penumbra, who was befuddled beyond belief. "What did you _do?_ "

"Nothing!" Nummy innocently answered.

"Nothing my _ass,"_ the blue speedster rebutted. "Come over here and take me to Stripes." Maybe he could explain what the hell that _was_.

Penumbra hesitated. "Are you going to hurt me again?"

"I will if you don't _come here._ "

CB puffed out his cheeks. "Will you ever start being nice?"

"Shut up."

* * *

There were eight red dots on the screen before him, each representing a Chaos emerald that held unimaginable amounts of power. They were scattered all over the globe, ripe for the picking.

If only he had the incentive to claim them as his.

He had no planned schemes or ideas at the ready. Every one he'd thought about had been thrown away because of the simple fact that there was _double_ of everything now. There were two guardians, two Ultimate Lifeforms, two annoying blue pincushions, and many more of those infuriating friends.

He'd been drawing blanks, and there was no point in collecting if the gems were just going to sit here as beacons, inviting those rodents to where he was. He couldn't even go for the Master Emerald. Because of that _idiotic_ chameleon, he was sure those echidnas were ready for anything that posed any threat to that rock.

He exhaled heavily, wondering when inspiration would fall into his waiting lap.

A red dot on the screen suddenly disappeared like a switch had been flipped.

It wasn't inspiration, but Eggman's interest peaked nonetheless.

* * *

 **Hope you guys weren't too worried about CB, he's safe! Well, as safe as you could be with Boom around, but eh, he's piggy-backing, so how dangerous could he be really?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **Uh, hi. It's been a while, huh? Sorry! I had gotten a summer job, and all my energy and extra time basically went into that, unfortunately. But I wanted so badly to update this because I** _ **really**_ **didn't want to hit that two month mark! So, here you go! Hope you enjoy!**

 **Beta'd by the awesome 18204!**

 **Chapter 8- Lost and found**

" _Knock, knock, Knucklehead! You up?"_

Knuckles was dragged out of his reverie when static filled the air, disrupting the natural peace surrounding him. His attention drifted from the slightly swaying trees in the distance to the walkie talkie resting on the stone steps beside him.

When Sonic's voice registered, the echidna scoffed as he palmed the device, holding it up to his mouth. "Yeah, I'm up." Knuckles leaned back on his unoccupied hand. "But why are you calling me? Don't tell me that you've destroyed something else in that house." He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, though.

" _Oh ha ha. I'm going to pretend that you didn't insult my amazing coordination because I have some interesting news!"_

Knuckles' brow creased at the wording, for interesting news wasn't always good. "What is it?"

" _Mephy is alive!"_

He slowly blinked, staring down at the walkie like it was speaking a different language. There was no way that Knuckles had heard that right. He had been in that room underground, and alive was the last thing Mephiles would ever be again. Was Sonic joking with him, then? That didn't seem right either, because Sonic would never joke about something this tasteless.

Knuckles spoke into the device again, "Repeat what you said, Sonic, because I don't think-"

" _You heard me right, Knux! I know it's hard to believe, but it's true! He's at Cream's place right now! Shads said that he might be back because of the powers he has or something."_

"Or _something?_ " Knuckles' mind was whirling. Mephiles was back from the dead, and from Sonic's phrasing, no one had any definite clue as to how or _why_. Also, Sonic seemed too unconcerned about it. "This doesn't seem right." Mysterious striped hedgehogs _never_ led to anything good.

There was a laugh on the other end. _"You're startin' to sound like Silver. Everything's good! Nothin' seems off about him, and Shadow is cool with the whole thing too."_

Knuckles highly doubted that. "Sonic, can't you just sit back and think for a _second_ about how weird-"

" _I'll think about how paranoid you are later."_ The guardian glared down at the cracks littering the old stone of the alter. _"Because that wasn't the only thing I called to tell you about!"_

Knuckles would rather not stray off the current topic because he was sure that the dead coming back to life topped everything else. "We're just going to skip over Mephiles like that?"

" _We'll get back to that later! Right now, we got a bee to find!"_

Knuckles didn't like the way those words sounded either, and Sonic's chipper tone wasn't putting things in perspective for him. His mind was still reeling from the Mephiles bomb. "A bee, as in, one of the Charmys? Why do I have to get involved?" Both of the kids were hyperactive, so they could've flown off somewhere, surely not that far where there had to be a search party.

" _Well, there's kind of a lead-up, Knux."_ Knuckles braced himself, for he was getting the feeling that a Charmy hadn't merely wandered off. " _Okay, so, let's start off with Mephy comin' back to life and somehow messin' with a Chaos emerald."_

Knuckles tensed up. "Wha-"

" _It was Shadow's. When Shads tried to heal Mephy's weak muscles, I guess some of his powers activated and, uh… changed the emerald? It's kinda unclear."_

The echidna had to make sure he didn't shatter the walkie talkie in his grip. It _always_ had to be the emeralds. And now an undead Mephiles was thrown into the mix too. "Changed the emerald _how?_ "

" _Dunno! It just went all wonky before disappearin' on us. And then Grey came to Cream's place a while ago telling us that a Chaos emerald took CB. We all kinda put two and two together, and I figured you could help us out! Can ya track down that emerald?"_

Knuckles didn't hesitate in getting up to his feet, trekking the rest of the way up the impressive alter. His hanging quills bounced as he ran up the steps, a frown marring his muzzle. "After all of this, you still think that Mephiles isn't suspicious at _all?!_ "

" _You mean the guy who risked everything to save Nummy and Cream? Nope! Want to come down and meet him? I'm sure he'd love to see your judgmental mug again!"_

Knuckles huffed as he came to an abrupt stop in front of the sizable Master Emerald, which cast a soft green glow on the rundown stone around it. A gloved hand splayed across its smooth surface. "I'm just being a _realist_ , Sonic! Mephiles comes back, and a bee goes missing. That doesn't set off any alarms?"

" _Not unless we can't find him! Get to searchin', Knux!"_

Knuckles didn't answer in favor of giving all of his attention to the chaotic energy swirling in the powerful gem, calming himself enough to connect his thoughts. He softly exhaled when the emerald allowed his interference, mentally requesting the locations of the Chaos emeralds.

Upon command, a fuzzy image of a Chaos emerald appeared on the ME's surface, its glow illuminating the cave it was in. Knuckles furrowed his brow, questioning why it seemed fullypowered, but he had other priorities at the moment. There was no sign of any bee, so Knuckles urged the jewel to continue. And it did, going through seven gems before fading back to its solid green color.

"Wait...what?" Confusion leaked into Knuckles' tone as he reviewed what he just saw. The Master Emerald only showed seven Chaos emeralds. Did he miss one? He urged the ME to repeat the action, and it did. Knuckles counted the gems, and yes, it only revealed seven. But-

Violet eyes widened when a thought came to him. It was insane, but _dammit._

Knuckles held the communicator up to his mouth. "Sonic, CB doesn't have a Chaos emerald."

" _What are ya talkin' about, Knux? Of course he does! I've seen it-"_

"I don't care what you _saw_ , Sonic! The Master Emerald showed seven _fully_ functional emeralds, the eighth one nowhere to be found!"

" _Then something's wrong with that rock of yours, Knucklehead! Are you really tellin' me that Mephy somehow completely changed the emerald?"_

"Yes, Sonic! Say what you want about the Master Emerald, but you know its job and you _know_ that it has a direct connection with all of the emeralds! So, if it's not showing it to me, either it can't locate it for the first time _ever_ , or-"

" _Or it's not a Chaos emerald anymore…"_

" _Thank you_ for understanding," Knuckles nearly snapped. He wasn't angry at Sonic, just the fact that none of this made sense and that Mephiles was for some reason the cause of this. The feeling in his gut wasn't good.

" _Okay, so, we got a little problem."_

"That's putting it lightly."

* * *

When Silver and Blaze disappeared to the back of the cozy home, it took a while for the realization to hit Shadow that his twin had been missing from the equation this whole time.

From his place leaning against a wall, waiting for either Sonic or Rouge and Tails to come back with news, Shadow looked over the handful of people remaining in the living room for the first time since his arrival.

A frown marred his tanned muzzle, and when Cream finished explaining that Rosy and TT were with the Chaotix to the other hedgehogs in the room, he asked, "Where's Penumbra?"

Mephiles' lips twitched downwards, and Shadow didn't know what to make of it. However, a somber Cream cleared things up for him. "Mr. Penumbra went to find Mr. Boom because he ran away!"

"Ran away?" Grey inquired before Shadow got the chance to. Mephiles slowly nodded, silently coughing, and Grey furrowed his brow. "Why the heck did he run away?"

Vanilla sent Mephy a sympathetic glance before softly answering, "Well, he met Mephiles here, but I don't think he had been completely ready to."

Grey was gaping, sitting up in his seat. "And he just left?" Yellow irises met subdued reptilian greens. "Did he even talk to you?" Mephiles shook his head with a silent sigh, and the psychic groaned. "Are you _kidding_ me? That jerk! Well, I hope that Nummy drags his butt back here!"

Shadow took in all of this quietly, not at all surprised that Boom took off like he did. Guilt was one hell of an emotion, and it would have been more unexpected for Boom to stick around for any type of conversation with the person he had technically killed.

He didn't know if bringing the temperamental speedster right back was the best move, but Shadow desired that the pair return if only so that Penumbra would be in the house _away_ from populated areas. He hoped that either Boom hadn't fled somewhere too populous, or that Penumbra had gained enough common sense to not go on the attack.

Cream wrung her fingers together, worry etching in her features. "They've been gone for a while now… I hope it isn't hard for Mr. Penumbra to find him."

Shadow folded his arms across his chest, quirking a brow. "How long have they been gone?"

The bunny opened her mouth, but Grey's scoff called all attention to him. The psychic waved the question off. "I wouldn't be concerned at all. Nummy probably already found them, and I'm pretty sure Boom wouldn't be brought back without a fight. They're probably duking it out right now."

That only increased the rabbits' and Mephy's concern. Shadow stifled a sigh because that was a valid assumption. "They won't hurt each other too badly," he said just to placate the kid. "They'll be fine."

Cream's worry eased a bit, but Mephiles didn't seem swayed.

Grey snorted at that, but he didn't say anything else as he leaned forward, propping his chin in his palm. His quick glances over to the door weren't exactly subtle.

Mephiles swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling a pang inside him because all of this was his own fault. He'd feel better about this if he was out there helping to look for CB, but he was stuck here, useless.

All he could do was give Grey a wobbly smile, mouthing, "We'll find him soon."

The white hedgehog ran his other hand through his long quills. "I hope so, because I _really_ don't want Charmy near that weird emerald." He peered down at his stomach when it growled, and he was reminded that the bee hadn't had any breakfast either. "And he's probably starving where he is! _Ugh!_ " Grey whined. "We just wanted to make some eggs…"

While Mephy blamed himself even more, Cream wanted to help out in any way she could. "Do you want us to make you something, Mr. Grey?"

The psychic shook his head even though the idea was tempting. "Thanks, but I'm not eating until Charmy is with us and not in the middle of who knows where with that evil gem."

Mephiles sunk into the couch cushions, and Shadow wondered if he'd ever seen a more pitiful face. However, his train of thought was interrupted when the front door flung open, revealing Sonic.

Shadow narrowed his eyes at the strained grin, assuming that things weren't going to go as smoothly as previously thought. "Well, Faker? What did he say?"

Sonic managed a chuckle, closing the door behind him as Silver and Blaze reappeared, having heard the other arrive. "So…you guys want the good news or the bad news first?"

"Good news!" Grey shouted out anxiously with bated breath.

Sonic clapped once, beaming. "Alrighty then! The good news is that we found out that the Chaos emeralds are back to their normal selves! Full power and everythin'!"

Shadow blinked at him because that had nothing to do with CB being missing, and _how?_

"I don't care about that!" Grey stood up, desperation in his tone. "Did you find anything about Charmy?" He sucked in a breath, eyes wide. "Is…Is that the bad news?"

How Sonic's smile waned was all the answer they needed. The azure speedster rubbed the back of his neck, wanting to only share good news. "Yeah, uh, it turns out that the Master Emerald can't find CB and the emerald he has because it…might not be a Chaos emerald anymore."

"What?" Silver and Blaze chorused because that was the _last_ thing they expected to come out of Sonic's mouth.

"You – You have to be kiddingme!" Grey took a step forward, anger lacing his words. "This has to be a joke, right? If it's not a Chaos emerald, then what the _hell_ is it!?"

"Calm down _,_ " Shadow barked as he pushed off the wall, striding toward Sonic. Grey gritted his teeth as the striped hedgehog held out his hand. "Give me whatever you used to contact Knuckles."

Sonic didn't hesitate in handing the walkie talkie over. "I'm not lyin', you know!"

"I didn't say you were," Shadow said before holding the communicator up. "Guardian."

" _Don't come to me with questions. The Master Emerald showed seven fully powered emeralds like how they were before the eighth one existed. And Mephiles was the one who changed it, right? Put the pieces together."_

Shadow glanced over to a mortified Mephy, hating that the pieces fit perfectly. "Are you _sure-"_

" _What else could it be? There had been eight, and then Mephiles messed one up! I don't know what else to tell you!"_

Grey stomped over, emotions rampaging. His voice was shaky. "How about you stop pointing fingers and just tell me how to find Charmy!"

It was Silver who spoke up, almost sounding as distraught as his twin. "Rouge went out to get Tails, right? He could make a tracker for it when he comes back!"

"How would that work, though?" Blaze inquired, hating how things had become much more complicated. "If it's not a Chaos emerald anymore, how would he make a device to track it?"

Shadow's thoughts whirled, wondering what exactly Mephiles had done to change the Chaos emerald's state so drastically that it wasn't one anymore. "He could still make one." Alert scarlets snapped over to where Mephy was holding his head in his hands. "Mephiles' powers could help in tweaking the tracker to hone in on the right energy."

Mephy's head popped up, and he saw everyone looking at him. He didn't know what to say in response to Shadow's words because everyone knew that he barely had any strength to stand by himself, let alone pulling on some ability he had to _ruin_ a Chaos emerald.

" _Seriously?!"_ Knuckles' surprised voice filled the air. _"We're going to rely on someone who mysteriously started all of this to-"_

Sonic snatched the walkie out of Shadow's hand, cutting the connection. He smiled apologetically at Mephy. "Knux is thrilled that you're back, honestly. He just gets a little frantic when somethin' happens to the emeralds."

Mephiles wasn't sure that statement was a hundred percent true, but Grey didn't let him think on it for long. The psychic put his hands on the blue-striped hedgehog's shoulders, squeezing. "You can do whatever you did again, can't you?"

Mephy resisted the urge to shake his head. He didn't have the first clue how to, and he wasn't sure if he _wanted_ to recreate what he did before. But, if it was the first step in getting CB back…

" **I can try,"** he reluctantly signed, and Grey perked up.

"He can try!" the psychic chirped, his mood temporarily brightening. "He said he can try!"

Shadow bobbed his head toward the exit. "Let's head outside." They didn't need another explosion going off in the house. It would be safer to experiment out in the open.

Mephiles was concerned for a moment because he was currently lacking in the movement category, but it was for naught when his body floated up in the air. Grey's smile had an edge to it. "Alright! Let's go!"

He flew out of the home with a shocked Mephy in tow, the front door being mentally flung open.

Silver frowned, needing to talk to his double about being more conservative about his telekinesis. However, he knew that was a talk for another day, when there wasn't a bee kidnapped by a mysterious emerald.

The rest of the anthros filtered out of the home as well, Sonic pursing his lips at the sight of Mephiles floating mid-air in the middle of the yard. "Hey Grey, don't ya think that Mephy should be able to move while doing this?"

"Yeah…right. Sorry," Grey muttered, seeing the logic there. He placed Mephiles on the ground as gently as he could, and the shadow 'hog sunk to his knees as soon as he was under his own power.

Cream hated seeing her friend so weak, but she knew that he'd get better soon. "You can do it, Mr. Mephiles!"

Mephy wished that he had the same positivity the bunny had.

Shadow was the only one who approached him, looking down at the miraculous anomaly before kneeling to the other's eye level. Mephiles was tired – emotionally and physically – and he wasn't exactly trying to hide it. He likely wasn't going to get the rest he needed until every mystery was solved, his resurrection included.

Lips thinned, Shadow asked, "Can you feel any sort of power within you?"

Mephiles shook his head because physical weaknesses aside, he felt how he always had. Still, he closed his eyes and concentrated hard, not wanting to disappoint the numerous gazes on him. That didn't change a thing, nothing new revealing itself to him.

Shadow pensively frowned when the striped hedgehog marginally slumped, shaking his head a second time. He had no clue how to prompt Mephiles to reenact what he had done before.

Well, maybe he had _one._

Mephiles' strange ability had presented itself in the presence of concentrated Chaos energy. Shadow didn't have the Chaos emerald anymore, but he had another trick up his sleeve.

Shadow held up a hand, and wariness etched in Mephy's features. The Ultimate Lifeform didn't verbally respond, simply pooling chaotic energy in his palm. Yellow static crackled, casting a flickering hue on the two striped hedgehogs.

"How about now?" Shadow ventured, watching the other keenly.

Mephiles fought the urge to lean away from the spontaneous energy and tried to sense _anything_ different within him. There was nothing, and CB was still out there lost and probably scared because of him, and he couldn't do a single thing to help.

Shadow saw his frustration and snuffed out the Chaos spear. He didn't know what to do now, since the thing that had brought out the power before wasn't cutting it. The only thing left was to track down another emerald and bring it here, but that was risky considering what happened earlier.

Grey took a step forward as Shadow stood up, pensive. The psychic knew the answer to his question before he asked it, but still, "Did you feel something? Anything?" The somber look Mephy gave him was his response, and he groaned as he sank down to the ground.

"Charmy could be freezing right now!" Grey whined, tugging at his forehead quills. "Or burning up in a desert! Or lost in some forest being chased by wolves!"

Sonic noticed how Mephiles subtly flinched at each word and decided to intervene. He smiled, going over to stand by a lost-in-his-thoughts Shadow. Emerald irises glanced between the panicked Grey and the slumped Mephy. "CB's just fine! Yeah, there's a chance that he might be in a _little_ bit of trouble, but there's also the better chance that he's perfectly safe on a beach somewhere!" Hopefully.

Mephy wasn't placated at all, and Grey fought tears.

Sonic thought on what else to say to brighten the mood, but since they weren't making progress in the Mephiles department, he was having trouble.

"Maybe…" All attention drifted over to Blaze, who was examining the blue-striped hedgehog's form. "Maybe Mephiles' weakened status is the problem here, not just that he can't call upon the power."

Grey pouted and opposed, "Well, he was still weak and _asleep_ when he did it before. So that doesn't make any sense."

Blaze bobbed her head in Shadow's direction. "It does when you consider what Shadow has said. Apparently, Mephiles had gained new abilities or something similar, so it's entirely possible that his control of it before was a fluke. That could have been resulted in a surge of power since it's new to his body."

Silver understood where she was coming from. "So he most likely needs to get stronger first before he can conjure it again…"

Shadow nodded. It could be a bit of a reach, but that was all they had at this point. "It's probable." He addressed Mephiles, who was looking over his scarred body once more. "We'll get you to walk, and then we'll try to activate the ability once more."

Mephy was all for it. Sure, his body was going to hate every second of this – again – but CB's wellbeing was at stake. He wished that he could just use the power _now_ , because despite Sonic's positivity, the bee could be in real trouble.

Sonic grinned at Mephiles' nod, holding out a helping hand. "Looks like it's round two, Mephy! Ready?" And maybe they should take it a bit easier this time so the shadow 'hog wouldn't pass out.

Mephiles took a deep breath before grabbing the outreached limb and willing his legs to move.

Cream smiled softly at how her friend's legs shook as he slowly stood up, Grey's words of encouragement helping the process. The rabbit then turned around and ran back into her home to fetch Mephiles a water bottle. She knew that he was going to need it pretty soon.

* * *

When Tails landed his extremely used and beat-up plane – courtesy of G.U.N.'s vehicle graveyard – he was met with an interesting sight.

The visual of Mephiles face-planting on the grassy ground below.

In the seat behind him, Rouge didn't know whether to snicker or be a tad worried; she settled for both as the aircraft parked in the yard. "Everything okay here?"

"Everythin's peachy!" Sonic responded with a smile, crouching down by Mephy as strained coughing filled the air. "Sorry for not catchin' ya, Mephy! We were kinda distracted!"

Mephiles was too busy trying to control his breathing to answer.

Grey floated the water bottle that Cream fetched over to the striped hedgehog, who was struggling to sit up. The psychic shrugged at the approaching bat and kit. "More or less. We're trying to get him to stand up, but uh…"

"He's making progress," Blaze said definitively, watching Mephiles down the water with a heaving chest.

Cream's concern was obvious, biting her lip as coughs wracked Mephy's system once more. "Do you want to take a break, Mr. Mephiles?"

Mephiles shook his head, wheezing with beads of sweat dripping from his chin. He returned the half-filled bottle to Grey and lifted his arm for Sonic to take. The speedster rose the wobbly hedgehog to his feet, waited until he was steady, and released him.

Mephy's legs were trembling as they held up his weight, but they didn't fail him…up until the point he tried to take a step. He barely shifted his weight, and his knees buckled. This time, Silver caught him before he crashed to the ground again.

Tails was as worried as Cream was, seeing how hard Mephiles was pushing. The fox didn't know why the other was back to exerting himself; however, he had a good guess that it was related to _everything_ Tails missed by staying at the military base.

When Rouge had found him and filled him in on what had happened, Tails almost didn't believe it. But then again, being friends with Sonic opened his eyes to all kinds of impossibilities. For example, it was apparently possible for Mephiles to alter an emerald and for said gem to teleport away, kidnapping a bee in the process.

Also, from what Rouge told him, they wanted him to make a tracker for it. That was _way_ easier said than done.

"We're having him build up his strength so he can replicate what he did in the bedroom." Shadow informed them, walking up to the duo while keeping Mephiles in his periphery. He regarded the kit, "I'm sure Rouge filled you in. Do you think you can make a tracker?"

Tails' namesakes swished unsurely behind him as he answered, "I can… but whether or not it actually works depends on what we can get." He glanced away from Shadow to see everyone else listening in. Mephy was using Grey as a crutch as he caught his breath.

He continued. "Like, having another Chaos emerald would help with range, and having a sample of energy Mephiles used would make finding that particular emerald way easier." Tails frowned when a thought came to him. "But wait, can't Knuckles pinpoint where it and CB are? Why do I need to-"

"Because he can't find it with the Master Emerald," Sonic hesitantly replied, causing both Tails and Rouge to blink in confusion. The azure speedster tossed his communicator over to him. "Yeah, it _might_ be possible that it isn't exactly a Chaos emerald anymore."

Tails just stared in shock.

Rouge opened and closed her mouth before inquiring, "And what _exactly_ brought you to that conclusion, sugar?"

Tails turned on the walkie talkie, figuring that it would answer that for them.

Knuckles' voice instantly came through. _"So now you'll let me talk."_

The kit disregarded that statement, having a guess that it had been for Sonic. "Knuckles, it is true that the emerald…isn't a _Chaos_ emerald?"

" _If it is, the Master Emerald sure doesn't think so. I don't know that they told you, but it won't show me CB with that eighth gem."_

"Are you s-"

" _How many times do you think I tried?"_

While this information sunk in for Tails, Rouge shifted her gaze over to a spent Mephiles. "Yeah, no offense hon, but we need to keep the rest of those beauties away from you until we figure out what's going on."

Mephy didn't take offense to her words, silently sighing with a head nod.

"So…" Tails lowered the communicator, thoughts whirling in his mind. "Wow."

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah, I know right? And to think that we thought things would be peaceful from here on out!"

Grey then spoke up, seeming conflicted as he glimpsed at Mephiles. "What would happen if Mephy didn't bring out that power again? Would…Would we never find Charmy?" His voice lost strength at the end.

Tails held his hands out and shook them. "No! It would just mean that I'd have to configure the tracker to detect general high levels of energy, then narrow it down to the eight emeralds, then use Knuckles' help to assign each Chaos emerald to each dot, and-"

"But the quickest and easiest way would be with Mephy's help."

Tails sheepishly smiled at the psychic. "Yeah, definitely."

Grey took a deep breath before smirking at the blue-striped hedgie. "You heard him. Let's get back to moving!"

Mephiles took a second to regather himself before pushing away from Grey, spreading his arms out for balance.

After watching for a moment, Sonic nudged Tails. "Guess you gotta get to workin', huh?"

The kit peered over his shoulder at the real fixer-upper he'd received from G.U.N. It was nowhere near in the condition the Tornado had been in, and installing a tracker was going to take some work. Luckily, that was nothing new to Tails.

"Yeah." He returned the walkie with a lopsided smile on his muzzle. "I better so CB won't be out there by himself for too long. And so I can research that emerald…"

Sonic ruffled Tails' bangs. "It's all up to you, buddy!" For the first time, he got a good look at the fox's gift. The paint was faded, there were scratches and dents all over the place, and he wouldn't be surprised if it was built even before Shadow's time. Sonic scoffed. "Well, G.U.N really scraped the bottom of the barrel with that one, huh?"

"Tell me about it." Still, Tails couldn't complain because they could've refused him one altogether. "It'll be a challenge, but I can do it." He took a half-step in the aircraft's direction. "I'm going back home to get it ready."

Sonic mock-saluted him. "Alright, see you in a bit!"

Tails returned the gesture as he hopped into the plane and flew off.

* * *

"Are we almost there?"

"If you ask that one more fucking time, I'm letting go and leaving you out here stranded!"

"No, you won't! Nummy's nice enough to slow down for me!"

Penumbra smiled back at the bee, and Boom hated his situation even more. Did that jackal jackass _have_ to aim for his Achilles? Because now he was stuck with two annoyances – though one was a hundred percent more insufferable than the other – and he couldn't even _act_ on any of his threats.

So instead of responding to CB, Boom simply tightened his grip around the bee's wrist until, "Ow ow! Okay, I won't ask again!"

Boom glanced at the pouting bee being dragged along before snorting. "Damn right you won't."

CB puffed out his cheeks, squinting against the wind whipping across his face. Because he wasn't nearly as fast as Nummy, he had to let Boom lead him along as Penumbra ran. That probably wasn't the best idea, though; Boom was mean, and his wrist was starting to hurt…

"It's still too tight!" CB whined, hoping that the azure hedgehog would be nice this one time.

Boom rolled his eyes before marginally loosening his grip. He didn't feel like hearing the other's voice for the rest of the trip. However, it seemed like it wouldn't be long before they hit Station Square because of how fast Penumbra was running and of how familiar buildings were appearing over the horizon.

"Finally," the speedster muttered under his breath, itching to get into the city. They could drop CB off at his apartment and then go search for Stripes and his Chaos emerald so he could _walk_ again.

Boom frowned at the reminder of emeralds in general, thinking about the one that apparently couldn't heal him back there. He then shook his head, ousting those thoughts because it was gone and there was no point in pondering what it did or what the hell it showed.

It didn't matter, anyway.

Oblivious to Boom's thoughts, Penumbra perked up and responded to what the piggy-backer had whispered. "We close!" He readjusted his hold on Boom, noticing the structures in the distance as well. He veered to the right a bit, aiming for the trees hiding half of the city. "Mephiles will be happy to see you and Charmy!"

"We're going to see him first?" CB's pout morphed into a wide smile. Grey could wait a bit if they were visiting their friend who came back to life!"Awesome!"

Boom tensed up because that had _not_ been part of the plan. "The hell we're not!" he growled with a glare set. "We're going to the city to drop the kid off and get my leg fixed by Stripes! No shitty pit-stops!"

Penumbra didn't decrease his sped, giving him a lost look over his shoulder. "Pit-stop?"

"We. Aren't. _Stopping._ " Boom snarled, wanting to drill his words into the other hedgehog's thick skull.

"Why?" Both Nummy and CB asked at the same time, the bee continuing with, "I wanna see Mephy!"

"You think I give a shit?" Boom whirled on him, squeezing the kid's wrist again. "You can see him later! Right now, we are heading to the effing _city-"_

CB tried to hide his wince. "But what if Shadow's with Mephy? He could be there too!"

Boom derisively scoffed. "As if. He works for those government assholes, doesn't he? He's out there doing shit for them, not hanging around the rabbits' house!"

The bee's glare was laughable. "But still! Me and Nummy want to see him, and don't you want to too?"

"No, I _don't._ "

CB was a little frustrated because he wanted to talk to Mephy as soon as possible, but he wasn't getting through to Boom. Luckily for him, Boom wasn't exactly the one in charge here.

"You do." Confident maroons met heated emeralds for a moment before Penumbra faced forward again. "You are sad or mad or…" Nummy couldn't think of any other words to describe him. "But you need to be happy. You need to-"

Boom's quills bristled. "You have _no_ idea what I need, asshole!" Because one of his arms was used to keep him from falling, he let go of CB in order to grab a black ear and pull. Nummy yelped in pain, stumbling to a stop. "Just listen to me!"

A stubborn growl rumbled in Penumbra's chest. Boom yanked even harder to earn himself a hiss, but then he was thrown for a loop when all support holding him up suddenly vanished.

The azure speedster sucked in a sharp breath when he landed hard on his back, the impact painfully jarring his calf as well. "What-?"

Boom gritted his teeth as Penumbra turned around with a huff, rubbing his abused ear. Boom propped himself up on his elbows, snarling, "What the hell was that for? Once I get healed I'm coming for you – _hey!_ "

The blue hedgie's threat was cut off when Penumbra bent down and gripped his upper arm. Boom didn't get a chance to react before he was yanked up to his feet, forced to swallow a groan when shocks of pain traveled up his leg. His discomfort was quickly muffled by befuddlement when an arm wrapped around his torso and _lifted him off the ground._

CB was hovering off to the side, giggling as Boom took his time to process that he'd been thrown over Nummy's shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"What the _fuck?!_ " Boom's brain had caught up at this point. He attempted to kick his legs to somehow hit Penumbra in the face, but his slash prevented him from doing so. "Put me down, dammit!"

Nummy secured his hold with a smile. "Don't want to." The striped 'hog then gestured for CB to get closer. "We go?"

The bee snickered as he held out his wrist, Penumbra gently gripping it. "Heck yeah!"

Boom wiggled and punched as much as he could, but his awkward position wasn't doing him any favors. He scowled when Penumbra resumed running, imagining many things he could do to get revenge.

After going back to _that_ house.

Boom hated the twisted feeling in his gut, so he overrode it with anger, mentally cursing Penumbra out for ever existing.

Nummy didn't feel any of that ire, just relief as he continued his trek. They had found CB, and he found a way to take Boom back without any more injuries to himself. He was slower running like this, but he knew he would get back to Mephiles, Cream, and Sonic and the others eventually. That was what mattered.

That eventually didn't take long either, for voices made Penumbra's ears twitch as they weaved around tree trunks and bushes. His smile grew as he pushed on, and soon, CB was smiling with him. Nummy didn't know if Boom was, but he hoped he was happy…at least a little bit.

Penumbra let go of CB's wrist at this point, slowing down as they reached the tree line. How tense Boom's body became went unnoticed when the trio crossed the threshold, two of them looking upon the scene.

Numerous people were in the front yard, to CB's excitement. None of them had noticed the three yet. They were all focused on two striped hedgehogs standing in front of each other. Shadow was holding a sparkling hand out, and Mephiles – who seemed extremely tired, barely standing up on his own feet – was sadly shaking his head in a negative.

CB had no idea what was happening, but he didn't care. He had been right about Shadow, and Mephiles was _right there!_

Unable to contain himself, CB darted out, yelling, "Mephy! You're alive!"

Grey gasped at the unexpected familiar voice, and he – along with everyone else – whipped their heads in the direction it was coming from. CB was flying right toward them, and the psychic felt all of the stress lift off of his shoulders. "Charmy!?"

The bee energetically waved. "I'm back!" He buzzed over to a flabbergasted Mephiles, hovering circles around the scarred one's head. "And you're back too! I'm-" Tears welled up in CB's eyes because Mephiles was real and breathing and in front of him. "I'm so happy!"

Mephiles fought his hardest not to fall over when CB hugged him tightly. He quickly lost the battle, for relief flooded his system and made his legs weak. Mephy sunk to his knees, hugging the kid back, because CB was _here_ and not in danger. They didn't have to worry about finding the emerald too, but the kid wasn't in trouble because of _him_ and just…

Shadow watched, puzzled, as CB wiped away his tears and settled on Mephiles' head with a wobbly smile. He was sure that he wasn't the only confused one in the area. "Where did that emerald drop you?" They all had thought that it could've been somewhere impossibly far, but for all they know, he could have been only a mile away.

"Had to be somewhere close by!" Sonic grinned, more than glad that the kid was safe and sound. He glanced around and saw that all of the others' confusion melted away to something more positive. "You gave us all a little scare, buddy!"

"A little?!" Grey stepped up beside CB and an overjoyed Mephiles, placing his hands on the bee's shoulders. "I almost had a _heart attack!_ "

CB was apologetic, though it wasn't his fault. "Sorry! I didn't think that emerald would just take me like that!" He pointed where he came from. "Luckily, I found Nummy and Sonic! They helped me back here!"

All eyes swiveled to the mentioned duo, and Rouge couldn't help but to smirk in amusement at the approaching hedgehogs. It wasn't everyday that someone saw Penumbra carrying Boom around like extra luggage.

Cream gazed in surprise at the waving Nummy, Vanilla softly smiling beside her. "Mr. Penumbra! You brought him back!"

"He sure did," Blaze commented quietly, unsure about how this was going to go. The bloodied bandages around Boom's lower leg were concerning as well.

Silver seemed to be reading her mind. "What happened?" he asked, worried that Penumbra had gone too far in his mission. "Penumbra, did you do that to his leg?"

Nummy furrowed his brow as he closed the distance to the group. "His leg?" He glanced down to the wrapped limb before shaking his head. "I didn't hurt him!"

"Are you sure _-"_

"Of _course_ he's sure, jackass." Boom growled from his unfortunate position, unable to actually see anyone yet. "I wouldn't let him lay a _finger_ on me!"

Although Sonic was concerned about the injury as well, he laughed at his twin's words. "Well, technically he's doin' it now." Sonic eyed the badly stained bandages, figuring that there was something nasty hidden underneath. "So, what happened?"

"And did you see the emerald the kid had?" Shadow added, realizing that said gem was nowhere in sight. CB and Boom returning were both surprises – one more pleasant than the other – but they needed the gem too.

Penumbra opened his mouth to answer, but Boom's increased squirming made him switch his words. "Why-"

"Put me _down!_ " Boom snarled, keeping the embarrassment out of his voice. "We're here now, so you can stop effing carrying me!"

Nummy frowned. "Your leg hurts…"

"Just do what he says." Shadow cut in, stopping the argument then and there. "No one wants to hear his whining."

Boom growled in response, and Penumbra hesitated before carefully placing the blue speedster on his feet. Boom hid his wince when he accidentally put weight on the wrong foot, and he pushed Nummy away with a scowl when he offered support.

His gaze swept the yard. He hated that there were so many people here. He pointedly ignored how Mephiles was sending his calf a concerned look, instead glaring at Shadow. "First of all, fuck you." He then focused on his double, pretending he didn't see Vanilla's disappointed stare. "And second, it doesn't _matter_ what happened, so shut up."

Sonic held his hands up innocently. "Yeah, yeah. We get it. You don't want anyone worryin' about you." He smirked at the glower he received. "But anyway, thanks for findin' CB for us! Both of you!"

"You're welcome!" Nummy chirped, and Boom dispassionately grunted.

"The emerald." Shadow tried again, taking control of the conversation. "Do you have it?"

Boom crossed his arms, keeping his eyes from drifting too far. He was curious how they knew about the emerald, but he didn't care enough to ask. "No. It's gone."

While everyone else was stunned, Grey snorted. "Good riddance." He would be happy if he never saw that kidnapping stone again in his life.

"Gone as in…what?" Silver attempted to read Boom's tone, but it was near impossible. "Did you leave it behind?"

Before Boom could go off on him– because who would be _dumb_ enough just to leave it – CB jumped in the conversation. "Nope! When Nummy tried to heal Sonic's leg with it, the emerald exploded and disappeared!"

Penumbra nodded at all the flabbergasted stares, and Shadow narrowed his eyes in thought. "Wait, so you touched it?" Nummy nodded a second time, and Shadow glanced between him and the bee. "Did it show you anything?"

"It did!" Penumbra confirmed. "Sonic touch…ed it too!" He almost forgot the 'ed' at the end, and he knew Blaze would call him out for it. Though, he shouldn't be worried about the cat since Boom was radiating hate at this point.

"Yeah!" CB's eyes were wide in wonder. "It was so weird! Sonic said that the emerald shows you what you want the most!"

"More visions?" Blaze couldn't wrap her mind around this. "Like before?"

"Seems like it." Sonic pursed his lips before grinning. "I wanna know how you reached that conclusion, other me. What did it show you two? Somethin' out of your wildest dreams?"

"It's _none_ of your business," Boom retorted crisply, cutting Penumbra and CB sharp glances. He then went on to ask, "What did the cat mean by 'like before'?" His curiosity was way too high now.

Blaze's tail flicked in irritation. "I'm right here." Boom didn't acknowledge the rudeness of his statement, and she inwardly sighed. "The emerald had been here with us at first, then it teleported way, grabbing CB in the process."

"It was here? Why the…" Boom began before a horrible thought popped into his mind. He regarded Shadow, his body tensing. " _Don't_ tell me that-"

Shadow didn't soften the blow whatsoever. "The emerald you saw was the one I had with me."

His gash throbbed at that information. "Then what the in _hell_ happened!?" Boom gritted his teeth, wanting to get in the other's face but unable to move. "I needed that Chaos emerald so I could heal! _Dammit!_ "

CB blinked down at Mephiles when the striped hedgie seemed to wince at Boom's words. "Mephy? You okay?"

Mephiles wished that the bee hadn't spoken, because it was then that Boom finally looked at him. Despite outward appearances, Boom was smart, and it didn't take him long to make the connection especially since Mephy knew guilt was written all over his own face.

The anger was immediate, and Mephiles should have known better than to think that things would miraculously go back to how they were before the lab accident. It was like someone had pressed reset.

Boom liked rage; it was strong and reliable, refusing any other emotion to take over. Venom leaked into his voice as he snapped, "What. Did. You. _Do?!"_

"No. That's _not_ about to happen." Grey stepped in front of Boom, blocking Mephy from the speedster's view. Boom bared his teeth at the nerve _,_ but the psychic wasn't affected at all, his glare just as heated. "You aren't going to yell at him, so get that stupid thought out of your head right _now._ "

Boom's quills bristled. "Who the hell do you think you're talking to?"

Grey rolled his eyes with a jeering laugh. "You, who else? What Mephy did was an _accident_. Don't you _dare_ blame him for anything."

If Boom had been able to move, he would've put the psycho in his place. Better yet, he wouldn't have been here at all.

"Maybe for once, instead of being a jerk-" Grey jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "How about you apologize to him, huh?"

The blue hedgehog was suddenly keenly aware of all who were witnessing this. He gritted his teeth and hissed. "Apologize for _what?_ "

"Are you…are you serious?" Grey marched up to Boom and shoved a finger in his chest, almost making the other lose his balance. "How about you apologize for running away earlier, and, oh I don't know, apologize for _killing him?"_

Boom's arm twitched, wanting more than everything to throw a punch, but with two psychics watching on, he doubted it would land. Instead, he slapped the finger away. "Sorry won't fix _shit,_ " he bit. "So get out of my damn face."

Grey gaped before backing up, sardonic chuckles escaping his throat. "You're hopeless." He then addressed all of the others, some sharing his opinion. "He's totally hopeless!" Grey turned around to face Mephiles and sighed. "Sorry, I tried."

If Mephy had the chance to, he would've told the psychic he was wasting his time from the start. He barely managed a weak smile, and signed, **"Thanks. It's okay."**

"It's not, but…" Grey sent Boom a brief look; he was glaring off to the side, not paying attention to anyone anymore. Grey just shook his head before asking, "You wanna take a break? You need a break."

"Wait." A frown marred Silver's muzzle. Even though getting Mephiles a healthy distance away from Boom was probably the smartest plan, they were still missing something. "What about the emerald, though? We need Mephiles-"

"We can worry about that later, can't we?" Grey interrupted him. "We got Charmy back, so there's no rush to fetch that evil emerald."

CB tilted his head, confused. "Why do you need Mephy to find the other emerald?"

"We need the same energy he used to alter the emerald to make a tracker for it." Shadow filled in, giving the quiet Boom a subtle glance before continuing, "He has to build up his strength to do so."

"Oh." The bee hovered off of Mephiles' head and gave him a once-over. There was enough exhaustion in the hedgehog's face alone to get him to agree with Grey. "You definitely need a break! You should come with us to see Rogue and Vector! They'd be really excited to see you!"

Sonic saw Mephy hesitate, so he said, "Go ahead!" Mephiles' surprised gaze landed on him, and he smiled. "You deserve it, really. And yeah, we don't want ya passing out on us again! Like Grey said, there's no rush anymore now that CB's here!"

Mephiles thought for a moment before eventually nodding. Not everyone knew that he was alive yet, he was pushing his body a little _too_ hard, and well, leaving Boom alone might be the best.

"Awesome!" Grey grinned. "Do you want me to pick you up, or are you going in my shadow?"

Mephy eyed said darkness at the psychic's feet. He'd been so focused on the power he never knew he had that he hadn't tried melting yet. Taking a deep breath, he phased into the ground and merged with the hedgehog's shadow. He exhaled in relief. At least he could still do this with no problems.

"Alright," Grey called backwards, waving to the rest of the group. "We'll be back in…an hour!"

"Forty-five minutes," Shadow grunted.

Both Grey and CB slumped while Mephy hadn't expected anything different. "Fine…" the psychic muttered before flying away with the bee in tow.

Everyone watched them go except Boom, who just desired to be healed so he could be anywhere else _._

Silence blanketed the yard, then-

"He had been terrified, you know." Boom snapped his hard emerald orbs over to Blaze, knowing exactly who she was talking to. Her gaze was unforgiving. "Terrified that you had died in that blast as well. Not angry, not vengeful, but _scared._ " When he just glared, she shook her head in exasperation. "For everyone's sake, I hope you get over yourself."

Boom saw red and felt his blood boil, but yet again, he couldn't do anything.

"I'm going for a walk," Blaze suddenly uttered, strolling away from the crowd.

Cream frowned at her back, knowing that she was upset. She glanced up at her mother, and Vanilla smiled at her silent question. The bunny didn't hesitate in flying over to the feline, asking, "Can I come with you, Miss Blaze?"

Blaze's expression softened when Cream landed at her side. "Of course you can."

They walked off, and Rouge hummed, putting a hand on her hip. "She has a point."

Boom was tired of everyone having a damn opinion. "I don't care."

"That's the problem, isn't it?" The bat rose a brow at him. She already knew the hedgehog had a permanent chip on his shoulder, but still, this was a bit much. Rouge changed the subject though, figuring her words wouldn't change anything. "Moving on, what are we going to do about your little leg problem, hm?"

Sonic wasn't going to focus on that previous exchange, for he knew that convincing a brick wall to do jumping jacks would be easier than getting through to Boom. "Well, if someone asks nicely, maybe I could go on a quick Chaos emerald hunt."

Boom scoffed. "I'm not asking you for _anything._ "

"Uh huh." Sonic gave a smirk. "You're not askin' for help, but you still want it." Boom's jaw clenched, and Sonic playfully winked. "I shouldn't take long. Hang tight!" After a quick visit with Tails and a conversation with Knuckles, finding the closest emerald shouldn't be too hard.

Sonic sprinted away, and Boom muttered, "I hate him."

"I think it's safe to say that you hate a lot of people at this point…" Silver commented, and Boom added another person to the 'revenge' list.

"Right now, it doesn't matter." Shadow didn't favor this turn of events because the emerald could be anywhere, and they had no clue of the limits of its power. Boom had enough time to reflect on his personality later. "I need to know what that emerald can do."

" _Apparently_ you already know what it does." Boom's tone was crisp and cold. "It teleports and shows stupid-" He didn't get to finish his sentence; a sharp hiss escaped his throat when he accidentally put too much weight on his injured leg. He would have crashed to the ground if Silver hadn't been quick to react.

Penumbra, believing now that Boom was somehow sadder than before, was about to reach out to help the speedster as well. He paused since Silver caught him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm _fine._ " Boom spat even though his cut was bleeding more profusely, more pain was reverberating throughout his leg, and…and Mephiles had been scared? "I didn't need his damn help."

If Silver was any less of a compassionate hero, he would've dropped him. "A 'thank you' would be nice."

Boom rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You suddenly toughen up after your psycho of a twin put on a show? How about you-"

Shadow was tired of this. Obviously, Boom wasn't going to give any useful information, and his mouthing off was getting old. "If you say _one_ more damn word, I'm making sure no Chaos emerald gets anywhere near you."

The blue hedgehog sent him the ugliest look imaginable and 'tch'ed, but no other sound came out of his mouth.

Shadow grunted before shifting his attention to the rabbit standing off to the side, her lips pressed in a thin line. "Do you mind fixing his injury until Faker comes back with an emerald?"

Despite her expression, the mother nodded. She noticed the growing red stain on the bandages. "I'll do my best to slow the bleeding." She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to help even those who were reluctant. Vanilla's expression warmed at Silver, who was still recovering from the insult. "Can you bring him inside, sweetie?"

"…Yeah," Silver muttered and carried the silently fuming Boom inside of the home, Vanilla walking in after them.

When they disappeared, Rouge turned to Shadow with an amused yet thoughtful grin on her face. "Not exactly the day you pictured when you first woke up, huh?"

Shadow deeply sighed but didn't outright answer. Instead, scarlet irises zeroed in on Penumbra. He was about to follow the others inside as well. "Wait, Penumbra." Nummy blinked over at him, his head tilted in question. Shadow knew the quality of the description wouldn't be the best, but since the bee was gone, Nummy was the one to ask. "Sonic said the emerald showed you things. What exactly did it show?"

Penumbra glanced over to the house and frowned. "Sonic don't want me to tell."

Shadow wasn't surprised. "It's _important_ , Penumbra. The emerald might be powerful, and we need to know what it does."

"Why?"

Shadow released a deep breath, and Rouge took over after sending him a mirth-filled look. "We want you to share so it doesn't hurt any of our friends, hon."

Nummy perked up at that. "I don't want friends hurt!" He gave the open doorway another glimpse before spilling, "I saw the mer…cenary that hurt Sonic. Sonic saw Mephiles. He was angry."

Shadow had expected a lot of things, but not that. He shared a glance with Rouge and questioned, "I thought Sonic said that the emerald showed things that you wanted?"

"It did!" The ghost of a smile grew on Penumbra's muzzle. "The mercenary was dead. He the one who hurt Sonic's leg." Before Shadow could wrap his head around a _mercenary_ targeting Boom, the smile faded. "I don't know about Sonic. Mephiles was mad, but he talked with hands."

Rouge put a hand on her hip. "I wonder how a regular old hit-man got him? And why?" Also, she was shocked that Penumbra wanted that guy dead, but considering his history – and who he resembled – she guessed that she could be too surprised.

"We're going to have to pry that out of Boom later," Shadow replied, because he knew Penumbra wouldn't be the best source for that. He wondered about Boom's vision as well, but that wasn't a priority. "The emerald can just project anything…"

The bat imagined what her greatest wish would be and smirked. "It could give me all of the jewels in the world!"

"Or all of the deadly bombs." Shadow interjected, itching to find that gem even more now.

Rouge frowned at that. "Sure, but it could just be visions, sugar. We don't know if-"

"There's the issue." The striped agent clenched his jaw. "We don't know anything about it. The images could be just that, or something more. And if it ends up in the wrong hands…"

Rouge fell silent, understanding.

Nummy's ears drooped, whining, "Don't want friends hurt."

Shadow should've given Mephiles only thirty minutes.

* * *

The sight of stagnant waters and crumbling ruins made Eggman's frown more prominent.

The doctor repressed memories that never should resurface again as he landed his jet on one of the few stable platforms of the infamous Kingdom Valley.

He had believed that he would have no reason to come back to this blasted place, but current developments changed things.

Eggman stepped out of the aircraft, for once thankful that the rodents had unknowingly left the vehicle behind so he had a way to escape the watery deathtrap. Sure, the climb up to where the jet was sitting had been less than pleasant, but he had still made it. The calluses on his palms were proof.

He had taken the aircraft and never looked back, until now.

Eggman paid no mind to the overgrowth all around embedding itself into the concrete rubble. Instead, his attention was on the metallic graveyard in front of him.

His gaze sharpened at the immobile remains of robots, hating everything they represented. He fought to push some of that hate aside, because he had come here for a reason.

The mysteriously missing Chaos emerald was interesting enough to pursue; however, there was a slim chance that the gem was alone or not being tracked down by any of those annoyances.

At the moment, the only firepower Eggman had was whatever weapons that were included in the jet. He had limited supplies due to most of them being caught in a flood, so producing bots from scratch would take too long for his liking.

Unfortunately, this was his only option.

Eggman looked over the discarded robots, first focusing on the pieces of Metal Sonic and glaring. The bot's head was completely separate from his body, which had a gaping hole. Good. The mech had been one of the catalysts for Eggman's failure, so he could rust here for all he cared.

Next was what remained of Boar's body. He had taken so much damage from Sonic's double – with missing wires, limbs, and structural support – and Eggman snorted. He believed that the striped bot deserved the same fate as Metal. That machine was nothing but trouble with his unnecessarily sharp quills.

Next was Psy, and the doctor was somewhat disappointed that the robot's arms were nowhere to be found, and his head was completely unsalvageable. It had been compacted to the size of a fist. He would have been a favorable option simply because of his ranged psychokinesis, but Eggman knew from just looking that any trace of his acquired psychic power was gone.

Rabbit and Omega had ranged attacks too, he supposed, but their powers couldn't stop the heroes in their tracks. That was a key move, especially since the Master Emerald's energy had leaked out of their broken bodies. He couldn't use them if he wanted to, for Rabbit was floating somewhere in that flooded base and Omega – he had flown over the mech earlier – was in no better condition than Boar.

Lastly, Eggman walked over to where Bat's motionless body laid. He examined the bot, noticing that his arms and wings had been severed from his body. The limbs were resting in a pile beside the mech.

Bat's head was concave, courtesy of Tails' twin and that pinkette's hammer. His ears were bent as well, but…

The doctor squatted down and propped the robot up, the mech's head lolling forward.

Eggman squinted his eyes and hummed. "This'll do."

The damage wasn't so extensive that it was impossible to fix. The arms and wings had just been separated, not trashed, so that would be an easy reattachment. The head was more complicated, but doable. The work would all be worth the sound waves he could produce. He would be useful-

-after Eggman threw away his memory card, of course.

With a grunt, he tucked Bat's body under his arm and retrieved the detached limbs with his unoccupied hand. He was about to return to the jet, but Metal's head made him pause.

Eggman felt infinitesimally better when he kicked it hard into the nearby water, the resulting splash more than satisfying.

Nodding to himself, the man loaded Bat into the aircraft and jumped in the cockpit afterwards. He took off, yearning to begin the search for the Chaos emerald.

Bat would be one hell of a seeker if he could help it.

* * *

 **I feel bad that you all had to wait this long for a set-upy chapter, but things will get rolling soon, promise!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **And we're back, ladies and gents! It's been a minute! Well, I hope some action will make up for it?**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 9- Rough waters**

Amy hummed an upbeat tune as she sauntered down the sidewalks of Station Square. There was a pep in her step, the sun's warm rays on her back and the refreshing morning air spreading positive vibes throughout her body.

She waved cordially to the people she strolled by, her smile radiant. It was a brand new day, and she was looking forward to it. Sonic's party yesterday had been fun; everyone had been able to relax without a single worry weighing them down. Today could be just as exciting, especially with their new friends shaking up their lives; in a good way, of course.

The pinkette giggled at the memory of Blaze teaching Penumbra how to roast marshmallows for their s'mores. He had burned so many that Blaze had decided to bring the fire to him, controlling the whole process.

Nummy had devoured whatever s'more he managed to make, and Amy pursed her lips in thought as she adjusted the box of homemade cookies she had tucked under her arm. She made them for anyone who might be at the Chaotix's home for the lesson, but if Penumbra had found his way there, she may need to hide them. From what she had seen, he rivaled Charmy in having the largest sweet threshold.

She needed to sneak them in, but Penumbra had advanced senses, didn't he? He'd smell the goods before she could get them in the house. And then there was the possibility of CB being there as well…

Amy's thoughts on her cookie conundrum were put on hold when she spotted a couple familiar faces in the distance. Her pace slowed as she recognized the unusual quills and a black and yellow buzzing body.

The duo was flying high above the populated streets, talking to each other and laughing at a joke lost to the wind. It didn't take long for Amy to assume that they were Grey and CB, those two known for being close friends and all.

Amy paused in her step and raised a hand in greeting as they flew closer. She and CB were friendly toward each other, and while Grey was no Silver – he was…interesting to say the least – she wanted to become good friends with him as well.

The pinkette waved her arm back and forth, standing on her tip-toes to stand out. "Hey, you two!" she called over the ambient soft chatter of the city. Her words caught CB's attention first, and Grey found her a second later. Amy beamed. "Good morning!"

The flying pair wore identical smiles as they swooped down to her, the slight breeze rustling her dress. "Good morning, other Amy!" CB echoed, radiating excitement. The name didn't bother the hedgehog because to them, she was the 'other Amy'. The bee couldn't keep still, hovering back and forth. "We have good news! Guess what it is!"

Amy's brow pinched together, and she glanced over at Grey for any hints. She only found a lazy grin and knowing golden irises. "There's no way I could guess!" she told the bee, her interest growing. "What is it?"

"Me-"

"Whoa whoa whoa." Grey held up a quieting hand, and CB's words reluctantly died out. Amy was taken slightly aback at how the psychic just interrupted him like that, but then she noticed that all of his attention was on the box in her grip. He pointed and asked, "Are those cookies?"

Amy knew where this was going. "Yeah, chocolate chip! Would-"

There was a mischievous glint in Grey's eye now. "Well, in that case, if you want to know, you're gonna have to share those desserts of yours."

Amy just gave him an odd look; she had been planning to offer up some cookies (two to be exact because CB was a threat) anyway for free. Still, she played along, itching to know now. "Fine…" She opened the box and held out two, which the duo hastily plucked out of her hand. "Now tell me!"

CB was too busy inhaling his cookie to speak, and Grey simply chuckled before gesturing down at the sidewalk. Amy dropped her gaze and only saw shadows at their feet. She pondered if this was some kind of weird joke until something started to _grow_ out of the psychic's shade.

A sharp gasp escaped her as she took a hasty step back, almost losing her grip on her box from the shock. Amy watched numbly as an unsettlingly familiar face formed out of the sidewalk, followed by half of a dark furred torso.

She was too distracted by the face, the burns, the overall _existence_ of the one in front of her to respond to the tentative smile and brief wave.

Grey grinned at her gaping mouth. "Close your mouth or you might catch flies." He snickered, finishing off his dessert. "And I think he wants a cookie too."

"B-But…" Her tongue was failing her. "But h-how…?! He was-"

"Dead? Yeah, he was!" CB flipped in the air. "And he's back! Isn't it awesome?"

Yes, it was awesome…among many other things, namely _impossible._ Amy was more than happy that he was back, but the _how_ was keeping that joy in check. While Amy didn't know a lot about the other Mephiles, she knew that he wasn't exactly mortal, and now with Mephy coming back like this…

No. No, she shouldn't think like this because Mephy was her _friend._

And Mephiles was dead and gone.

Sonic wasn't going to be in danger again.

An elated smile eventually pulled at her lips, calming down from the onslaught of emotion. "It's amazing!" A bit of sadness slipped into her gaze as she examined the seemingly permanent scars of the blast, but she instantly covered it up as she handed over a cookie.

" **Thank you,"** Mephiles signed in appreciation.

"You're welcome!" Amy chirped, glad to have some sign language knowledge under her belt. Mephy's smile widened, and Amy still couldn't believe this. Like…when, why, _how?_ "Does anyone else know that you're back? And my question from before still needs to be answered, you know!"

"Yeah, we know." Grey teased. "But can you wait a second before we tell you? We were headed back to the apartment to share the news with Rogue and Vector. Wanna come? _Please_ say yes because it's a lot and I don't want to explain it twice."

Amy couldn't say no to that, and she'd been curious about their place, so... "Su-"

"Cool!" She was suddenly wrapped in a cyan aura and lifted off the ground before her mind could process anything. "Let's go!"

Amy had to remember that remaining friends with someone meant _not_ pounding them with her hammer.

When they reached their destination, CB burst in the front door without a care in the world. "Rogue! Vector! Where are you guys!?"

Grey mentally let Amy go once they were all inside. Adjusting her box of treats, she scanned the living room she'd been deposited into, absently noting the subtle scent of eggs. The space was scarcely furnished, but that made sense considering the short amount of time they'd been here.

The pinkette's gaze shifted over to Mephiles, who was fully stepping out of Grey's shadow. His curious stare was soaking in the décor of the room as well, as if his presence was the most normal thing in the world.

Amy allowed a small smile. Stuff like this _should_ be considered normal at this point. They should learn to expect the unexpected, since it happened all the time.

"In the kitchen!" VC's words echoed from the adjacent room, his voice steadily sounding closer. "Were you the one who left the eggs out in the open, kid? Cuz I don't know what Silver's been teaching you, but eggs _don't-"_

The crocodile rounded the corner, and it was easy to tell when his train of thought derailed and burst into flames. His chin was basically scraping the floor, his body frozen.

Grey barked out a laugh, CB giggling beside him. "There it is! The surprise! The shock! I've really been looking forward to this. Is Rogue back there too?"

"Uh, yeah? What's going on?" Rogue stepped from behind VC, eyeing the reptile before turning his attention to the group. He immediately identified the odd-man-out. Eyes blown wide, the bat harshly nudged VC. "I _knew_ those eggs had been sitting out for too long, dude! We shouldn't have-"

"You haven't been poisoned by the eggs!" Amy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. Mephiles silently chuckled beside her, amused as well. "Mephy is alive! You know, somehow…"

VC quickly recovered from his shock, a large smile splitting his face in half. "Even though this is _crazy-_ " He swiftly paced over and patted Mephy's shoulder. "Welcome back to the land of the living!"

"This is beyond weird, bro!" Rogue flew over with awe written all over his face. "This is the wildest thing I've ever seen!" He grounded himself beside VC, regarding the shadow hedgehog. "I mean, the last time I saw you, you were…" A sharp look from Grey kept him from continuing, the bat instead shaking off the memory and giving Mephiles a once-over. "How does it feel to be alive again? Because you honestly don't look the best, man."

Amy could agree with that, the scars and the tiredness the hedgehog seemed to have not really giving off a 'clean bill of health' vibe.

Mephiles, clearly glad to see them both, made a 'so-so' gesture with his hand. He then focused on Rogue, mouthing, "I'm glad that you're okay."

Rogue blinked in confusion before realization set in. "Ditto!" He threw a friendly arm around the other's shoulders, holding back some weight when Mephy's knees threatened to buckle.

He and VC shared a concerned look, the latter asking, "So, anyone want to fill us in on how… it happened?"

"Yeah!" Amy turned on Grey, putting her unoccupied hand on her hip. "Can you tell the story now?"

"Yup." The psychic sat crisscross in the air. "But you guys can't interrupt me, okay?" There were three nods, and Grey took a breath. "Alright, so, Shadow believes that Mephy came back because of new powers – oh, he is at Cream's house with others who know he's back too – and those powers are hard for him to control or something."

He took another breath. "When Shadow tried to heal him with a Chaos emerald – because Mephy was all weak and stuff from being basically a zombie – his crazy powers turned the emerald evil, and it teleported Charmy somewhere else. Nummy and Sonic brought him back, but the emerald is still gone. Shadow wants Mephy to regain his strength so he can use his powers to help power a tracker to find the evil emerald. Got all that?"

Before Amy could reply with an outstanding _no_ , Rogue spoke up. "Yeah, I got _none_ of that, but I don't really care because our man is back! Woooo!" He pumped a fist, and VC and CB loudly cheered with him.

Mephiles was accepting the attention in stride, waving his own weak fist in the air. Amy, figuring that she'd get the info in detail later, smiled fondly at the sight. She placed her box on the nearest coffee table before going over to lightly hug Mephy, who leaned into the gesture.

She didn't know who knew that Mephy was back, but she was certain that this would brighten everyone's day.

Her twin definitely needed a pick-me-up.

"Hey." Amy was thrown out of her thoughts by Grey, who was floating near her. He was quieter now, more reserved. "You were checking out our place earlier, right?" Amy nodded, pulling away from Mephiles. Grey pointed down a nearby hallway. "There's nothing special up here, but I've got a _massive_ jacuzzi tub in my bathroom. Do you have one?"

Amy gasped and shook her head, missing the odd looks Rogue, VC, and CB gave the psychic. "No, but I've always wanted one! It would feel so good to relax in it after a long day! Can I see?"

"Sure. My room's the last one on the left."

"Thanks!" Amy chirped as she skipped away, following Grey's directions. She reached his room in no time. Ignoring how he somehow made the place look messy without many belongings, she made a beeline straight for the bathroom.

She opened the door…and no jacuzzi. Just a regular old tub.

Huffing, Amy yelled, "It's not back here!"

"Then you aren't in my room! Are you in the one to the right?"

Right? Amy swore he had said left, but okay. She left that bedroom only to enter one equally as unkempt. Bypassing the mess, she bounded to the bathroom and peered inside, immediately being disappointed a second time.

Puffing out her cheeks, Amy marched back up to the front, wondering if Grey for _some_ reason forgot where the heck his own bedroom was.

She never got to ask though, distracted by the boys scarfing down the chocolate chip cookies like they were a lifeline.

Mephiles, the calmest of the five, was about to bite into the one cookie Grey gave to him, but a cold chill ran down his back. Alarms going off in his mind, the striped hedgehog searched for the danger and instantly met Amy's betrayed glare.

Mephiles stiffened before closing his mouth and slowly replacing the cookie inside the box, his movements slow so he wouldn't trigger anything. He hated how much pushing his body had worked up an appetite.

The rest of the boys noticed his off behavior, pausing in their chewing to look at him and then the pinkette standing at the mouth of the hall. They all froze, crumbs falling from their mouths. Grey was the most terrified.

"H-Hey, look, I can explain-"

"We are going back to my apartment to bake more."

"But S-Shadow wants-"

A certain hammer popped into existence.

" _Now._ "

There were no more arguments after that.

* * *

Rosy released a pleasant sigh as cool winds caressed her face, the distinct smell of the sea growing ever stronger. A content smile grew on her muzzle when soothing waves appeared over the horizon, their vibrant blue contrasting the golden sand and the green grass. From the description Espio had given her before they had left, they had made it to Seaside Hill.

Rosy could barely contain the excited buzz within her. Sure, it was just another beach, similar to Emerald Coast, but its subtle differences and the fact that she'd never been here filled her with awe. Never before had she dreamed of discovering and exploring new places, but now that she had visited other distant locations – Spagonia and the bittersweet Kingdom Valley – Station Square was starting to feel boring.

She stuck her head out of the open window, the breeze becoming stronger as tall cliffs and small islands off the coast popped into view. Various pathways both natural and man-made connected some of the isles, large palm trees lightly swayed back and forth, and Rosy had the urge to go out there to relax and forget.

Forget that she wouldn't hear the waves crashing against the shore, the seagulls flying freely overhead, the leaves rustling as the wind flowed through them, the…

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a tap on her arm. She tore her eyes from the seaside paradise before her to meet observant sapphires. TT was gazing inquisitively at her, and she didn't bother to hide anything. He was a smart kid.

TT felt a pang within him at the sadness in her expression. He could tell she had been trying to drown it out with the awe of this new destination, but it didn't quite work.

He hated that things had turned out like this for them – for her – but they had to work through it.

The kit shifted his attention to the crystal-clear waters for a moment before mouthing, "Do you want to get out?"

Rosy hesitated in answering. They had tagged along with the Chaotix to watch them work a case in a village near Seaside Hill, but surely they wouldn't mind dropping them off by the coast, right? She and TT could explore and take in the sights while they worked. It didn't seem like it would be too long of a job.

She nodded, her smile returning, and TT's own lips twitched upwards.

The fox leaned forward in his seat, accidentally letting Charmy's head slip from his shoulder. The bee caught himself from smacking his forehead on the seat in front of him, instead leaning on the door to his left and falling back to sleep with a snore.

TT reached up and tentatively tapped Vector on the shoulder, the crocodile bobbing his head to the radio as he drove. The croc turned the volume down some and spared him a swift glance. "You want something, little guy?"

The kit nodded. "C-Can we, um… Can Rosy and I b-be dropped off?"

Vector chuckled. "What, you wanna stop for a minute and see the sights? I don't blame ya!"

"Well, k-kinda…" Their conversation had caught Espio's attention now, the chameleon having to turn further than normal to glance at the fox. TT explained, "S-She wants to explore instead of going with you…"

Vector rose a brow at him before shifting his attention to Rosy. She was wistfully observing the moving landscape. The croc then met Espio's gaze, the purple passenger nodding after a beat. There was no harm in letting them explore. They weren't that far away from the village.

"Sure, no prob!" Vector drifted off the skinny dirt road, decreasing speed as they rolled onto the surrounding grass. "Charmy might be a bit upset that you won't be there to see him show off."

"'Show off' as in point in random directions until he gets it right," Espio expounded in jest, making TT quietly chuckle.

The jeep eventually braked, and Rosy smiled appreciatively at the two reptiles. "Thanks, you guys. You're the best!" she said before opening the door and hopping out.

Vector regarded TT while she breathed in the fresh air. "Just don't go too far, 'kay? And the village is just a few miles that way-" He pointed in the direction the road was heading. "-if you wanna find us."

"G-Got it!" TT scooted out of the vehicle with a brief wave.

"Hopefully this will be a simple case." Espio returned the gesture. "We'll be back in a while." Vector saluted the fox as he pressed the gas, reuniting with the road as clouds of dirt rose in their wake.

The kit watched the detectives go until he heard footsteps behind him. Peering over his shoulder, he saw Rosy moving away with a pep in her step. She peeked back at him with a bright smile. "Come on, Tails! We have a lot of coast to explore!"

Her positivity spread to him, glad that this was providing Rosy the distraction she needed from both her condition and Mephiles. The long trip was worth it.

Lips pulling upwards, TT revved up his tails and hovered over to his sister. He flew above her head, his shadow causing her to glance up. His hands didn't hesitate in moving. **"Fly?"**

Rosy's smile couldn't get any wider.

* * *

Red woke up to something. His muddled brain couldn't quite comprehend what exactly it was, but he quickly ruled out crashing waves, rustling leaves, and the chirping of gulls.

The echidna couldn't hold back his yawn as he rubbed his eyes. He blinked against the sun's rays. The shade he was under dampened the brightness somewhat, but it still took him time to adjust.

Red temporarily froze when he heard that same sound again, and he was awake enough now to identify it as a laugh, a familiar one at that. Yawning once more, the echidna sat up, cracking his back because tree trunks didn't exactly make the best mattresses.

Drowsy violet irises searched around when chuckles joined in with the laughter. When he found the sources of joy, surprise flooded his system until amusement took over.

Rosy and TT were an isle over, wading in water under the shadow of a cliff. They were about knee deep, having a splash fight without a care in the world.

A small grin grew as he stood up and waved. They were too busy getting drenched to notice him, so he yelled, "Hey!" Understandably, TT was the one to respond first. The fox meekly waved back, and Rosy – who had followed the kit's line of sight – did so as well with more energy.

She then said something to TT that Red couldn't exactly make out. A moment later, tails were whirling in the air. TT was holding Rosy's hands as he carried her over the water, ignoring the natural pathway connecting the two pieces of land.

"Hi, Knuckles!" Rosy greeted when they got close, still dripping. TT touched down in front of the echidna, and the pinkette wrung out her dress the best she could. "I didn't expect to see you out here!"

"I could say the same," Red drawled, languidly scratching the back of his head. He made sure to say his words clearly so Rosy didn't have to work too hard. "What are you two doing out here?"

"We're with the Chaotix!" Rosy gestured vaguely to her left when Red rose a curious brow. "They're going to a job in a village a couple miles away. We tagged along. Just wanted to get away for a bit, you know? Because-" Her words caught in her throat when something popped in her mind. "Oh my gosh, you don't know!"

Red's interest climbed higher when TT soon matched the pinkette's surprised expression. "Don't know what?"

The fox slightly angled himself so that Rosy had full view of his mouth. "M-Mephiles is alive!"

Red's bewildered stare stayed on the fox – who had uncharacteristically gained a twisted sense of humor – waiting for the punchline. When it didn't come, he switched to Rosy, and her genuine smile made him replay those three words over and over again in his mind.

"Mephiles is…" Rosy and TT nodded enthusiastically at him. Red released a heavy breath, shock and relief taking over his system. He didn't know how in the world it happened, and his brain wasn't up to the task of processing that right now.

However, if a gigantic gem ruled over several other colorful rocks that had the capacity to control time and space, who was to say that reanimation was impossible? Mephiles had saved lives and more than deserved to have his back.

Red crossed his arms, shaking his head in near disbelief. "Well, I'll be damned. Where is he now?"

"At Cream's house!" Rosy raked her fingers through her stringy quills. "He apparently went there overnight." She giggled; it wasn't as lighthearted as it should've been. "You should've seen our faces when we first saw him." TT's enthusiasm dulled when Rosy bit her bottom lip, emotion shifting. She sighed. "He looked so weak, Knuckles, like… he can barely _walk._ "

A shallow frown marred Red's muzzle. He didn't like the news, but it wasn't totally unexpected. "Muscles get weak from non-use, especially when the person has been six feet under. He'll get stronger," he added that last part in an attempt to lift their spirits.

It didn't quite work. Rosy absently rubbed her arm. "It's just not fair. When he tried to work his muscles, he collapsed – _unconscious_. Still hadn't woken up when we left."

"Well," Red was going to say something along the lines of 'don't worry too much' or 'he'll be fine', but he couldn't manage that because he didn't know. He was a bit inexperienced with the whole coming back to life situation.

The echidna glimpsed over at TT, wondering if he was better able to soothe the hedgehog's concerns. Unfortunately, he was as affected as she was.

Rosy stepped forward and squinted where waves met loose sands. "Wait, do you see that?" She rushed ahead and jogged to the shore. "There's definitely something in the water! Come here, you two!"

Red and TT shared confused looks, Mephiles temporarily forgotten. They followed in her footsteps, sidling up to either side of her. Red thoroughly examined the shallows, but he couldn't spot anything.

He twitched a finger, her gaze locking with his. "I don't see it."

Rosy furrowed her brow, squatting nearer to the water and gesturing for the boys to do the same. She pointed. "What do you mean? It's right… _here!_ "

The next thing Red knew, he had water dripping off his face. The echidna glanced down at his damp body before deadpanning at a snickering pinkette, TT struggling to hold in his giggles beside her.

Red exhaled heavily, tasting traces of salt in his mouth. "It's too early for this."

Green irises located the sun high in the sky. Rosy tsked. "Let me guess, you just woke up?"

"I'm still in the process."

"Well, let me… _help you!_ " Red didn't bother dodging the second splash, his body one attack away from being soaked. Rosy seemed to be enjoying this way too much. "Wide awake now?"

Red saw what she was doing. He had a hunch that the pair had wanted to take their minds off of Mephiles, so they were here vacationing. Since Mephy was brought up again, Rosy had taken it upon herself to provide another distraction.

He'd be an ass if he didn't play along.

With little warning, Red swung his hand out to deliver a hefty splash to her face. Somehow, she swiftly leaned back to avoid the water, it instead dousing TT and causing him to sputter.

There was a pregnant pause, and then suddenly Red was at a disadvantage. It was now two-on-one.

Red fought back against the two splashers as best as he could, but it wasn't long before he conceded defeat, holding up drenched arms in surrender. He'd swallowed too much salt water for his liking.

He coughed. "I give, I give."

Both Rosy and TT wore tired smiles. "Already?" the former lightly teased. "You're just going to let two kids beat you?"

"Yep." Red stretched his arms over his head before wading out of the water, settling down on dry sand. He leaned back on his arms. "You won fair and square."

Rosy looked at TT when he nudged her, his hands moving. **"He's tired."**

They shared knowing grins. "Yeah, I figured."

The duo sunk into the warm sands as well. Red was going to ask what TT had said, but he refrained, having a good guess.

"So…" Rosy began, regarding the echidna as she drew small doodles in the sand. "We told you how we got here, but what about you?"

Red shrugged when she looked at him. "I just wandered around, and this place seemed relaxing enough."

Rosy blinked. "You wandered, with those two lazy feet of yours, all the way out _here?_ "

"…I hitchhiked."

"That sounds more like you."

"And d-dangerous…" TT said lowly, and Red shrugged again. He doubted anyone wanted to mess with the 'guardian of the Master Emerald'. Plus, they had been a nice old couple. The threat level was very low.

The conversation lulled, and the trio sat in peace as they soaked up the sun. A comfortable atmosphere wrapped around them, Rosy loving every second of it. It was nice to appreciate what the world had to offer, especially when danger was no longer lurking around every corner.

Her world was silent, but its beautiful visuals would make up for it.

A tap on her shoulder grabbed her attention. Rosy tore her gaze from the landscape to focus on TT, who was pointing at something in the distance. The hedgehog followed his finger until she found what had caught his eye.

"Whoa…" she breathed out, standing up. Red, who had been resting his eyes, stared up at her and then whatever had triggered her surprise. Rosy squinted against the sun. "Is that a Chaos emerald?"

TT got to his feet as well, watching as said gem was deposited on the shore of a neighboring isle by the waves. He nodded because of its familiar shape and size.

Red had located the jewel at this point, and while it did seem like a Chaos emerald, something was off about it. He couldn't place what it was, though.

"What are the chances?" Rosy felt a little giddy. While they didn't have a need for the emeralds right now, it didn't hurt carrying one around for good luck. She gestured at TT. "Fly me over there, Tails!"

The kit took her wrists and flew her over without any argument. A tiny frown marred Red's muzzle as he reluctantly stood up from his comfortable position. He jumped and glided over to the adjacent land.

By the time he landed, Rosy and TT were already examining the stone in the sand. The pinkette tapped her chin. "I'm not an expert on the Chaos emeralds or anything, but…" She addressed Red as he approached. "Was there always one this color?"

Red saw the dark magenta coloring littered with thick black stripes and immediately shook his head, frown growing. "No. None of them have ever been this color before."

"I-It's so weird…" TT commented, eyeing the jewel. "Maybe w-we should take it back?"

"Yeah." Red agreed as Rosy bent over to pick it up. "Shadow or the other me could explain what's going on with it."

Rosy reached out and paused, the way the space around the gem seemed to be subtly distorting catching her off guard. Yeah, it was best if they kept this for safe keeping until someone could hopefully explain its existence.

Her fingers grazed the crystalline surface, and she was bombarded with a symphony of sounds so unexpected and drastic that it almost took her breath away. It was ironic. It felt like she'd been drowning all this time, this miracle somehow getting her to breach the surface. She should be gasping for air, not sobbing through a constricted throat.

She collapsed on her knees, unable to control her tears because she heard the waves, the seagulls, and the leaves. She heard herself bawling; it only made her weaker. She had never been this happy before, where she could do nothing but cry herself dry.

TT and Red were crouched beside her at this point, their worried tones music to her ears. Rosy cradled the emerald securely in her arms and finally lifted her head. Her vision was blurry from the tears, but her elated smile was clear as day.

"I…" Rosy almost choked up at the sound of her own voice, her grip on the jewel tightening. She looked at Red and then TT, sniffling. "I can _hear_ you."

"What?" the boys chorused with equal amounts of shock etched in their features.

Rosy nodded adamantly, unable to speak again, a sob replacing her words.

TT was filled with wonder as he let that info sink in. She could hear again? That's… he didn't want to say that it was impossible, but they had tried to heal her with a Chaos emerald before and it didn't work. So what was the difference now?

The kit leaned forward and tightly embraced her. He whispered shakily, "It's back? All the way back?" This was the ultimate test because she couldn't possibly read his lips right now.

"Y-Yes!" she exclaimed, that single word filled with so much emotion that TT couldn't keep in his relieved laugh. It was contagious, laughter bubbling out of Rosy as well, who returned the hug with one arm.

Red was speechless as joy resounded around him. The hug had ended, and the emerald in Rosy's grip gained all of his attention. It looked like a Chaos emerald for the most part. It glowed like one, was the same shape as one; but it did what a Chaos emerald couldn't.

The echidna eventually found his voice, a smile adorning his muzzle as well. "Amy-" Rosy turned to him while futilely wiping the dampness from her face, beaming. "Amy, this is…"

"Amazing!" TT finished for him, his namesakes swishing back and forth.

"Especially that." Red released an awed breath before asking, "So, it's like it never left?"

"Yeah," Rosy sniffed, eyes glossy as they shifted down at the magenta gem. "All because of the emerald. I don't know how or why, but right now, I don't care."

TT followed her gaze. "It's really incredible…" he muttered, watching the stone subtly warp in her grip. Curious, he reached out to touch it, but Rosy pulled away. He sent her a questioning look, and she shook her head.

"We don't know how it's doing this, so-" She protectively cradled it closer to herself. "-nobody else should touch it in case something happens."

Her sentence cracked at the end, and the boys understood. They didn't know if this was temporary or permanent – hopefully the latter – so they should leave it alone for the time being.

"Well, I didn't expect to have two major surprises back to back like this today." Red idly chuckled, raking his fingers through his wet dreads, not wanting them to get matted.

Rosy grinned at him. "And you think I did? I had fully accepted that Mephiles would be gone forever just like-" She didn't finish her sentence, inhaling deeply. "It's almost like a dream."

TT reached over and pinched the pinkette, causing her to yelp and playfully slapping his hand. "Definitely not a dream!" he giggled as he pulled his arm away.

Red was pleased for this development because she deserved it. No one should ever go through what she went through; being swallowed up by silence with a snap of a finger.

"I say that we have two options now," Red drawled out. "Either we cut this short and meet back up with the Chaotix to share this little discovery, or-"

"Spend a little more time out here so I can take in all the sights _and_ sounds?" Rosy felt lighter as she stood up, cheerfully brushing the sand off her dress. "It's no competition!"

She used her unoccupied hand to help TT up to his feet. Red got off the ground with a knowing grin. "I figured." He widely gestured to the beauty that was Seaside Hill. "Where to?"

"Everywhere!" Rosy chirped, and she kept to her word.

They roamed all over the coast, and for once, Red bypassed lounging for tagging along in the back. He guessed that the jolly brother/sister duo in front were somehow giving him energy. It had been a long while since they'd been this happy.

And it was all because of that emerald…

Red ousted the thought as their footsteps resounded on a white metallic pathway. He would think hard about it later; now was the time for relaxation.

"H-Hey!"

To say that he froze would be an understatement. His muscles and joints locked up so forcefully that it was borderline painful. He didn't want to turn around because that familiar voice wasn't real. It couldn't be. The owner of it was left in pieces many miles away from here.

However, when Rosy and TT whirled around, expressions twisted in shock and dread, Red had to accept that his wish had been flushed down the toilet.

The echidna spun on his heel and clenched his fists, taking a few steps back from the robot they never thought they'd see again.

Today was just _filled_ with surprises, wasn't it?

All of Rosy's positivity drained out of her like she was a broken faucet. She couldn't control her breathing at all, it growing rapid and shallow as the winged machine landed on the walkway. She swallowed harshly and almost felt silly for reacting this strongly.

Bat didn't look menacing at all. He still was reminiscent of Rogue, and his overall appearance was rough. Anyone could see that he had been destroyed and hastily put back together. His face had shallow dents in it, his ears more resembled crinkled aluminum foil than stainless steel, and the robotic smile he was wearing had a constant twitch.

The visual didn't matter though. Rosy remembered the _pain_ and the emotions and the silence and the…

TT could sense how petrified his sister was. He glanced at how wide her eyes were blown, how tightly she was clutching the emerald, and how much her body language screamed to run away.

He was scared, but anger was swiftly flowing in his veins.

The kit didn't know why Bat was back, but what he _did_ know was that he wasn't going to let the bot lay a hand on Rosy again. He refused to be on the sidelines. That brought nothing but pain and suffering.

Breath shaky, TT gritted his teeth and positioned himself in front of Rosy, tails puffed out. He felt her surprised gaze on him for a second; none of them said anything, too caught up in the situation to acknowledge the move.

The trio's bodies were tense as Bat looked them over with that crooked smile still in place. He waved genially, and that only made them warier. He seemed amused by this. "D-Did I really scare you that bad?"

Red narrowed his eyes, paying apt attention to those large ears of his. They could attack at any minute. "What you do want?" he barked out, a growl leaking into his voice.

Bat actually seemed put-off by his tone, the smile marginally slipping. "I-I was just searching for something around here, and I'm wondering if you've seen it?"

There was no response. TT refused to say a word, and Rosy was attempting to calm her breathing. Red was too busy calculating the risks of rushing the robot now, for Bat didn't have the Master Emerald energy inside of him. And he was confused as to why Bat himself hadn't attacked yet.

Bat was clearly puzzled, tilting his head. "I-I know that stranger danger is a thing, but aren't you taking it a bit too far?"

 _Stranger danger?_ Everything clicked together. _He doesn't know who we are,_ Red thought, and it made sense. The one man who could have possibly put Bat back together would've erased any memory of Sabo, taking everything else in the process.

Red relaxed only marginally. He couldn't afford to put his guard down, but they didn't need the robot to get suspicious. "Sorry." He didn't bother with an explanation. "What are you looking for?" He had a sneaking suspicion that he knew what it was, but there was always the possibility of luck being on their side.

There hadn't been a chance.

Bat roughly traced the shape of a diamond in the air. "A-A Chaos emerald! H-Have you spotted one around here?"

Red wondered how he hadn't seen the gem already, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. "No, I haven't seen an emerald." They should've cut the trip short and went to the Chaotix. Espio would have been perfect for the tight situation they were in.

Bat didn't say anything at first. He held eye contact with Red before flickering his red opticals over the echidna's shoulder. Red chanced a look, seeing TT standing protectively in front of Rosy. The emerald was hidden from sight.

"H-How about you two?" Bat asked, "A-Anything?" The duo shook their heads tersely, and the robot produced a sigh. "R-Really? I-I was hoping that you would just give it to me."

Red's breath hitched as he snapped his head forward, mental alarms going off. Bat knew the whole time?

"A-And sorry in advance! B-Because it looks like I'm going to have to be the bad guy." Bat flared his wings, smile coming back full force. "D-Doctor's orders!"

Red didn't have time to wonder how Eggman knew about the emerald and why he wanted it. They needed to make a move. "Run!" he ordered Rosy and TT. "Protect the emerald! Leave him to me!"

"N-Nope!"

He was suddenly hit with overwhelming dizziness and nausea that made his world tilt on its axis. With a groan, Red was sent to his knees, covering his hidden ears. That didn't muffle anything, his head feeling like it was about to implode while his stomach threatened to expel all of its contents. He had been lucky enough to avoid the attack in Kingdom Valley, and he wished he never had to experience it because his body was off-kilter, he could barely see straight, and… and he couldn't _think._

Rosy and TT were in the same boat, on their knees trying and failing to overcome the sound waves assaulting their inner ears. The pinkette hadn't let go of the emerald to protect her ears; she knew it wouldn't make a difference anyway. Rosy closed her eyes, but the queasiness worsened, causing her to whimper.

"We… n-need to…" TT desired to escape to safety, but his head was swimming so much that it was physically impossible. All he could do was send the foul machine the meanest look he could manage, terror and anger raging a war in his body.

"A-Again, sorry about this!" Bat activated his boosters and flew towards Rosy. "I-I'll make it stop if you – huh?" The robot abruptly stopped midair. Looking down, he saw a harshly breathing echidna with a death grip on his ankle.

Red didn't give him time to process. His balance was wrecked, but walking wasn't required for what he was about to do.

With a grunt, Red whipped Bat around in the air before slamming the robot down with all his might. The resulting thud was satisfying, but it wasn't nearly enough.

The vibrations were gone, but the effects unfortunately lingered. Red resisted the urge to gag as he swiftly crawled on top of Bat and raised a fist to devastate and destroy.

The punch never landed. Red nearly went cross-eyed when his ears were blasted again at such a close range.

"Y-You're pretty strong!" Bat commented over the vibrations while Red fought to stop himself from collapsing on top of the bot. "B-But you can't really use your strength now, can you?"

Red couldn't speak in fear of emptying his churning stomach. His mind was too scattered to comprehend the metallic palm held up to his face and the hole that formed in the middle of it.

However, he did understand that the blast of air hit like a runaway train.

An agonized yell ripped out of his throat as pain blossomed across his face. The taste of copper flooded into his mouth, fluid gushed out of his nose, and the pain was so all-encompassing that he didn't know he was airborne until he crashed into the side of a cliff.

Bat sat up and watched the echidna slump forward, limp. The bot boosted himself to his feet. "W-Well, that's one down! H-Hopefully next is the pink girl…"

He turned around only to nearly get a face full of hammer.

The robot darted to the side to dodge the close call, his attacker wobbling in the air because of the miss.

TT was panting, his grip tight on the limply hanging hammer. He was consciously keeping his whirling tails from becoming tangled because his mind, while slowly recovering, was mostly still scrambled. He had to focus extra hard to turn this robot into a pile of scraps.

Determination shone in his jaded eyes. TT readied the weapon, warning, "Stay a-away from her! From u-us!"

"C-Can't!" Bat rotated his ears. "G-Got a job to do!"

TT hurriedly swung the hammer, not risking another hit by those. His movements were sluggish and sloppy, Bat easily avoiding it. The kit zoomed around the robot before those ears took aim. He went for the head, but the bot backflipped overhead.

Bat twisted midair, and the kit gasped at the same open palm that gotten Red. TT propelled himself backwards, the sudden speed creating a bout of dizziness. He attempted to shake it away as Bat blasted the place he'd been a moment before. The air thundered as it hit the metallic walkway below; a shiver ran down TT's spine when red opticals found him.

The kit repressed any lingering anxiety. He couldn't let the robot get to him. Not again.

TT steeled himself, adjusting his grip. Bat gave him a once-over. "Y-You don't look too good, little dude." A hand was forced in the fox's direction; he scrambled to the robot's back.

And was roundhouse kicked square in the chest.

All of the air was forced out of his lungs when he was hurled backwards. He cried out, the breath burning like a scorching fire. His eyes had closed upon the brutal impact, tears running down his face, and he reopened them to find Bat flying alongside him.

Bat's smile taunted him. "W-Why don't you-" The robot spun and brought his heel down on TT's abdomen. His scream was silent because his lungs refused him enough air. "-sit down for a while!"

TT plummeted, and the ocean's waves engulfed him without a second thought.

Bat stared as the massive splash settled. "I-I wonder if he can swim? P-Probably, so I should complete my objective before he comes back." He shifted his attention to where the pinkette was, or rather, was _supposed_ to be. "W-What?" Bat's eyes frantically scanned his surroundings. "W-Where'd you go?"

Rosy heard his question, but her thoughts were filled with, _They'll be okay, they'll be okay, they_ _ **have**_ _to be okay._

Every fiber in her being desperately wanted to turn around and go check on her friends. But what could she do? There was no other choice but to keep running. TT had taken the only hammer she had and offered to be a distraction so she could flee. Gong back would erase all that he'd done, and…and _they will be okay._

Rosy was currently struggling to keep her feet from tripping each other up, sprinting as quietly as she could down a grassy hill. She was weaving between the palm trees, hoping that their outreaching leaves blocked Bat's aerial view.

She couldn't keep running, though. She would find a place to hide, wait for Bat to go far out searching for her, and then she'd return to TT and Red. They would be fine. Then-

Her thoughts derailed at the subtle sound of engines. Rosy's heart jumped into her throat as she took a hard right, booking it for waves softly crashing against rocks. She jumped into the shallow sea, the waters barely reaching her tail.

Hugging the magenta emerald close, Rosy sank down until her head was the only thing exposed. She ignored the pulse pounding in her ears and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

There were no boosters, no calling voice, nothing but the sounds of paradise this place had formerly been.

"H-Having fun down there?"

Rosy stiffened as her gut dropped. Movements choppy, she craned her neck up to find Bat grinning down at her. He was laying down on the ledge, propping his chin up with one hand.

No sound left Rosy's gaping mouth. Bat took the silence in stride and held down a hand. "H-Hand it over, and I won't hurt you. P-Promise!"

"H-How…" she stuttered out, stepping away from the rocks, putting distance between him and her. "Why-"

Bat shrugged. "D-Dunno why the doctor wants it. H-He didn't tell me. A-As for how…" He tapped his temple. "I-Internal tracker."

 _A tracker? So no matter where I had hid…_ Rosy's grip on the emerald was near painful.

"M-Made a choice yet?" Bat asked as he became airborne.

"Yeah." Rosy glared at him, standing taller to hide any uncertainty. She squashed her nervousness with defiance. This emerald had returned the gift of _hearing_ to her. She wasn't going to let any robot or grimy scientist anywhere near it. "If you want the emerald, you're going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands."

"W-Whoa." Bat produced a chuckle. "Y-You're a feisty one!" He readied his wings. "L-Let's do this!"

Rosy was ready to fight with all she had, knowing good and well she didn't have a chance of winning. So, it was a miracle that a certain fox catapulted out of nowhere and kicked an unaware Bat in the side of his head.

The robot careened to the side, and Rosy barely had time to process what just happened before hands grabbed under her arms, yanking her out of the water.

"Did he hurt you at all, Amy?"

The raspy voice knocked Rosy out of her stupor, settling her stunned stare on the damp fox carrying her. "I should be asking you that!" Every word out of TT's mouth was pained. His breathing was labored as well.

Before she morphed into mother hen mode, she spotted a splash of red on top one of the nearby palm trees. That made sense, because TT couldn't have reached his earlier speed by himself. Red must have thrown him.

The echidna jumped into the air and started to glide away from the isle, over the water. TT increased his altitude to get closer, and Rosy inwardly winced at the amount of blood on Red's face. It was still dripping out of his very crooked nose and from a large split in his lip.

Yeah, Rosy wouldn't have won that fight by herself.

"Wh-Where should we go now?" TT asked Red, his voice now reduced to a whisper.

"Anywhere but here." Red grunted as he wiped away some of the carmine liquid. They were headed for another isle with a large cliff. Digging out a hole was the only idea he had. "We need to hide _somewhere_ so-"

"It won't matter," Rosy reluctantly interrupted him. "He has a tracker on him. That's how he found me…"

Red and TT gazed at her, temporarily speechless. Then the echidna muttered irritably, "Why the hell does this dimension's Eggman bounce back so quickly? It's only been days, for crying out loud."

TT kept his fingers from trembling. "So w-we either fight him, or…"

Rosy got what he was implying instantly. She shook her head adamantly. "There's no other option, Tails. We have to fight him! Letting Eggman have it will cause nothing but trouble." The kit's uncertainty was palpable, and Rosy faced Red for help.

The echidna was silent for a long moment as he rode the wind. His lips were pressed in a thin line, and Rosy was growing concerned. When he spoke, it wasn't the words she wanted to hear. "We can always get it back later."

"Are you serious?" Rosy exclaimed in disbelief. "You're back to _that_ mentality? Because it _totally_ didn't go wrong before!"

"It's better to leave here to no more injuries than to take more hits and eventually _lose_ the emerald anyway." Red's tone was unintentionally sharp. Rosy was about to retort, but the echidna kept going, softening his words. "Look at me. This was from one hit. And I'm sure that _something_ is broken in Tails' chest." He sighed and wiped more blood away. "We'd have a better chance if he didn't make us want to vomit on command."

Rosy wasn't giving up easily. "Then we take out his ears!" She shakily exhaled. "We can't just give in, Knuckles. What if…" She hated thinking about this, not wanting it to be true at all. "What if the emerald's power is temporary?" Her voice lost some strength, eyes glossing up once more. "What if everything just _stops_ and – and we can't let him take it! _Please_ , we have to try!"

Red almost looked pained as he uttered, "Like I said, we'll get it back."

Rosy's jaw dropped, and before she could yell and shout about how _wrong_ he was, a gale of wind slammed into her from below. She screamed as she was wrenched out of TT's grip, him and Red taking the brunt of the attack as well.

Rosy spun out of control as the sky and ocean blurred together into an omnipresent blue. The occasional red and yellow splotch kept her tears from falling. They were going to catch her, and they were going to fight no matter what-

The pinkette cried out when her body crashed into something hard and unforgiving. She inwardly questioned where the piece of land came from, but when that something cradled her body, she realized that she didn't crash.

She had been _caught_.

"I-I'm flattered that you fell for me, but-" Rosy forgot how to breathe as she focused on Bat's grinning face that was _way_ too close. Drops of water rolled off the robot's body as he adjusted her, freeing up an arm. He reached for the emerald still in her grip. "-I'll take that now!"

" _No!_ " Rosy screeched as she simultaneously fought against the bot's hold and the fingers harshly grabbing one of her wrists. "Let go of me!"

Bat's hold tightened, and Rosy hissed. "I-I would if you would just…" He trailed off when something caught his eye. She followed his gaze up to see Red and TT slicing through the air to get to her.

"F-Four's a crowd!" Bat teased as he deactivated his boosters. Rosy gasped and held her breath just as the salt water surrounded her, the waves and frantic yells from above being muffled.

Panic settled in Rosy's system when Bat rocketed them away from the surface. She struggled as hard as she could to free herself, bubbles escaping her mouth, but she was sure that there were bruises forming on her skin from how tight Bat was holding her.

The bot abruptly came to a stop, his twitchy smile making Rosy thrash harder. Bat rolled his eyes and attempted to grab the gem again. The combination of the water weighing down her movements and her body running out of oxygen facilitated the effort.

Rosy made a strangled noise in the back of her throat when Bat yanked. She was desperate to keep her grip, playing a brief game of tug-of-war she knew she was at the losing end of.

Bat dug his unoccupied fingers into her side, and she recoiled from the intense pressure, losing focus for one second.

The one second he needed to jerk the emerald from her grasp.

Like a switch had been flipped, there was nothing.

Ice flooded Rosy's veins, and yet she felt numb.

There were no waves, no voices, not even her erratic pulse.

They were all gone.

Above the surface, TT was zipping around low to the water, eyes wide and searching. _I need to go down there, I need to go down there!_ But he couldn't because he hadn't figured out where they knew that his lungs wouldn't hold out long at all, so he had to be accurate, but-

"Do you see them?"

The kit barely spared Red a glance as the echidna circled around in the air. "N-N-No!" he barely managed to yell back with tears blurring his vision, getting as close to the water as he could.

"Dammit!" Red cursed, one second away from diving randomly and hoping for a miracle.

The risk was unneeded, for Bat suddenly rocketed out of the shifting sea a few meters to the right of TT. The fox gasped at the sight of Bat holding the emerald with one hand, Rosy's wrist with the other. He didn't get to process the complete and utter _devastation_ on the pinkette's face before she was slung in his direction.

TT caught her as gently as possible, securing her in his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked hoarsely, concern laced in his words. Rosy didn't answer him. Her gaze was dull, and he just realized that there were tears streaming down her cheeks.

Red beelined straight for the robot now that Rosy was safe. He readied a fist to rearrange Bat's face, but the machine effortlessly avoided it. The echidna leaned in the air to reposition himself for another attack; irritatingly, Bat had other plans.

"I-It's been fun, but I gotta dip!" Bat tauntingly waved the gem back and forth. "T-Thanks for the gift!" With another smile, he spun around and blasted off, creating a hole in a low hanging cloud.

Red watched him go, hating robots, hating Eggman, hating Sabo who had the _idea_ of the destroyer of peace-

"K-Knuckles…"

The echidna looked to the side, barely hearing his name. TT was staring back at him with a trembling bottom lip, chest heaving way too quickly. "Sh-She's… I d-don't think she c-can…"

Red didn't need to hear the rest of the sentence.

Whatever the emerald did had been temporary.

Subdued violet irises shifted to the hedgehog; her face was covered with her hands, shoulders violently shaking.

"Let's get back to the isle." Red forced out, throat tight. He bobbed his head in the direction of the piece of land they had come from, TT eventually heading that way.

Once they all landed on shifting sands, TT carefully placed the silent Rosy on her feet. The kit went in to hug her, but she leaned away, instead approaching Red.

The echidna's jaw was tense as those bloodshot eyes locked on his. Rosy stood in front of him, raw emotion flooding those jade orbs of hers, and Red saw the slap coming a mile away.

His grip on her arm was gentle yet firm. "I'm injured, remember?" he muttered. His throbbing broken nose and swollen lip had stopped bleeding by now but were still tender.

While Red believed he wasn't the one at fault for this outcome, he was sure that Rosy wasn't on the same wavelength. Maybe she blamed him because of the argument, because they hadn't turned around and fought back when she mentioned it. Maybe they could've seen Bat dip into the water if they had.

Under a different mindset, she probably wouldn't be so pissed or wouldn't have held Red responsible at all. But because of her current situation, he could tell that a hurricane was brewing in her mind, jumbling all her thoughts and emotions.

Anger could be the thing that kept her grounded, so he wasn't upset. It would blow over.

Rosy tore her hand away, not fazed at all that he'd intercepted the hit. She harshly jabbed a finger in his chest. Rosy took a breath that did nothing to calm her. "We better _-_ " She jabbed him again, her voice wrecked and lifeless. "We _better_ get that emerald back."

Intense jades held subdued violets for an excruciating moment. Then Rosy turned away to face TT, her gaze softening at the large bruises littered on the kit's front. "We're going to find the Chaotix, Tails. Are you okay enough to walk?"

TT threw Red an apologetic look before nodding. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, he felt the soreness within. He probably couldn't go the fastest, but he should make it.

"Let's go."

Rosy began to walk away, and the fox hesitated before keeping in step with her.

Red sighed breathily as he trailed behind the duo.

Funny how the day started off so well.

* * *

 **Welp, that went south real fast. At least no one got seriously hurt, right? Physically, at least…**

 **If you're questioning how Rosy got her hearing back: her ears don't work, but the part of her brain that interprets sound still does. And well, we all know how a certain ruby likes messing with peoples' heads ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **Updated this in under a month! That's what I call progress, people. Defeating work and procrastination one step at a time.**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 10- Trust your instincts**

"They're done!"

VC beelined for the beeping oven, leaving dusty white footprints in his wake. The croc donned a pair of frilly pink mittens covered with melted chocolate chips and grains of sugar. He reached forward and gripped the oven handle, hoping with everything he had that these weren't burnt.

"Just open it!" Grey ran up to his side, fretfully rubbing his forehead and streaking white powder on it in the process. "Honestly, _nothing_ can be as bad as the first batch we made." Those things were more brick than cookie.

Despite the ordeal they had gone through, Rogue still managed a tired chuckle as he landed on the other side of the crocodile. "Really, bro? What about the third?"

Lingering in the bat's shadow, Mephiles raised a weak arm – he had stirred _once_ and his muscles hated every second of it – and held up four fingers.

Rogue nodded at him. "Oh yeah, and the fourth. Those two didn't even make it to the oven."

"Okay, alright, it was my bad for sneezing in the dough, but the fourth wasn't my fault!" Grey jabbed his thumb over his shoulder at a giggling CB. "I wouldn't have slipped if he hadn't dropped those eggs on the floor!"

"You could've used your powers on the batter!" CB jovially shifted the blame off himself.

"And risk nasty bruising? No, thank you."

"I think we're _all_ to blame here because we underestimated the anger of…" VC shuddered, hating that his self-control in the presence of cookies usually plummeted to zero. "Just hush so I can focus."

All of the boys waited with bated breath as VC opened the oven and pulled out the tray of freshly baked cookies. Rogue cleared a spot on the counter, scooting over a multitude of dirtied bowls and utensils. Grey caught a couple spoons that had tumbled off the edge.

VC clanked the tray down on the counter and stepped back. They all tensely examined the batch.

"Nothing looks like it's burnt," Grey muttered.

Rogue leaned marginally closer. "Not too raw either." Mephy nodded in agreeance.

"And there aren't any huge clumps." VC's hopes were rising. "They look… good."

CB excitedly gasped, buzzing in the air. "Did we finally do it?!"

"I'll be the judge of that!" The group of novice bakers parted, allowing Amy to approach the warm desserts. A nervous atmosphere settled around the boys as the pinkette's keen gaze inspected every single cookie.

Rogue didn't like the silence. "What's the verdict?"

"Hm, looks delicious!" Amy smiled at them, and they collectively sighed in relief. "But-" All happiness was wiped away by the glint in her eyes. "-the real test is the taste."

Concerned glances were shared, and she chuckled. "I'm not gonna be that strict! I just don't want them to be insanely bland or sweet, contaminated with foreign DNA, or hard enough to weaponize. You already are halfway there!"

VC's taut muscles relaxed with a heavy exhale. "Thank you, because I'm pretty sure it's not healthy to inhale as much flour as I have."

"Don't thank her yet, man." Rogue advised while wiping a stray eggshell off his shoulder. "We're not out of the woods."

"We almost are!" CB chirped, not bothered at all to be around this much sugar. He hovered closer to the tray. "If they're good, can I have one?"

Amy rolled her eyes at him. "Nope! These are for the rest of our friends." Her tone sharpened. "You've already had enough, haven't you?"

The bee warily snickered, slowly floating away. "Yeah…"

The pinkette's smile returned, and Grey was happy that Rosy wasn't this intimidating. "Alright! Now, we wait."

Approximately ten minutes later of CB habitually checking the temperature – Amy observing closely so he wouldn't take a nibble – she picked up the closest cookie. Again, the boys held their breath as she took the first bite.

There was no immediate spit take or any expression of intense disgust. A heavy weight was lifted off the bakers' shoulders at the pinkette's pleased hum. "They're really good!" There were high-fives all around. "They're not quite my quality of cookies, but-"

"Not too shabby, right?"

"Yeah." Amy giggled at CB as she finished her treat. "Not too shabby!" She went over to one of her cabinets, pulling out the same cookie box that had been unrightfully ambushed. "Now, we have to get Mephy back to Shadow, right?"

Mephiles was a bit hesitant to meet back up with Shadow at this point. They had been gone for a long time, and he had known the striped hedgie long enough to notice his very limited patience.

Grey crossed his arms and groused, "Like thirty minutes ago."

"All the more reason to hurry!" Amy responded like she wasn't one of the main reasons they were late.

Rogue wasn't going to walk out of there looking like he had survived a cake grenade. "Can we get cleaned up in your bathroom?" Amy nodded and waved in the general direction of it. "Sweet."

The messy group began to migrate out of the kitchen, but a voice stopped a certain hedgehog in his tracks.

"Hey Grey, you mind helping me clean up later on?"

"Are you _serious_?" Something sounding like a mixture between a groan and a whine escaped his throat. "Why just me?!"

"Because, oh I don't know, you're the one who tricked me?"

Grey had so many arguments, but nothing passed his gaping lips. He finally gave up with a pout. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?

"Nope!"

* * *

Upon swooping down into the rabbits' front yard, a multitude of gazes landed on them. One was a heated glare.

Shadow was borderline scowling as he approached them, absently noting the unexpected appearance of Amy before zeroing in on a nervous Grey. "Why the _hell_ did you take so long? What were you-"

Amy interrupted him before her bakers could get yelled at. Punishment from her was more than enough. "Don't get mad! I ran into them, and after filling me in on what happened, I suggested we all should bake some cookies to de-stress." Her bright jades raked across the yard as she lifted her box of desserts. "Anyone want some?"

Shadow was about to say something else, but Rouge didn't give him a chance. "Oh? Don't mind if I do."

Amy's diversion worked, for Shadow had to side-step out of the way as eager Mobians surrounded the pinkette. Shadow folded his arms across his chest, indignant, before leveling his glare onto Mephiles occupying Grey's shade. Mephy gave him a wobbly apologetic smile in response.

"Whoa!" The last thing Tails expected coming back here after constructing the tracker was sweet deliciousness. He chewed happily, forgiving their lateness. "This is really good!"

"Better be," Grey muttered. "We poured our blood, sweat, and tears into making them."

His words were so low that Tails couldn't catch them. "What did you say?"

A _look_ from Amy made Grey widely smile. "Nothing! Just talking to myself."

Tails furrowed his brow but dropped the subject.

Amy patted herself on the back before regarding Penumbra, whose tail was wagging crazily back and forth. She didn't let him get too close to the box, gripping a cookie and holding it out to him. "Enjoy!"

She handed it over, receiving a large smile in return. Amy knew then that she had to busy herself before Nummy could threaten her supply. Focusing on one of the hedgehogs who hadn't gone for a treat yet, she ambled past a munching Cream and Blaze, her positive mood not squashed by how unamused her target was.

Shadow's expression remained stone-cold when she presented the box. "Sorry again for making them late!" She gently shook it, rustling the cookies inside. "This is our apology! Take one?" Shadow didn't move a muscle. She shook it again. Scarlet eyes narrowed. She shook it one more time.

Amy inwardly cheered when he wordlessly plucked one out of the box, still unhappy as ever. He didn't acknowledge her as he bit into it, instead turning his attention to Mephy. "Mephiles, let's start. Stand by yourself."

The blue-striped hedgehog obeyed without argument. He stumbled out of Grey's shade, the psychic ready to help if need be. Some of Amy's jubilance waned when his legs shook with the threat of buckling right around the corner.

Mephy neglected using his legs at her apartment, so this was her first time witnessing how severely death had affected his body.

Maybe she shouldn't have lumped him with the others in the cookie punishment…

"Miss Amy?"

Amy was thrown out of her thoughts by Cream. She smiled at the bunny. "Yes, Cream? You want another one?"

Cream returned the expression, but it wasn't as full. "Yeah, but um… I want to take it to Mr. Boom because he's too hurt to walk." She glanced over her shoulder, and Amy followed her line of sight.

Boom was sitting against the wall of the house, glaring in the opposite direction of the group. One of his legs was wrapped up in bandaging.

During the earlier chaos, Grey had given Amy the run-down on what happened with the blue speedster. It was safe to say that he and Mephy should never be in a room together because Boom had serious problems.

"How about I take it to him?" Amy suggested, not wanting Cream to be the target of misplaced anger. "He's gonna need convincing to take it, and as one of the chefs, I'm sure I can do it!"

Cream nodded. "Okay! I wanted him to have one because cookies always make people smile!"

Boom would be a major exception, but Amy wasn't going to dampen Cream's spirits. "Right!" She beamed before steeling herself, strolling over to the brooding hedgehog.

He didn't acknowledge her existence until she was standing right in front of him, but even then, there was no eye contact. "The hell do you want?"

Amy huffed. " _Sorry_ if I'm interrupting your pouting time." He was looking at her then, features twisted into a glower. "But Cream wants you to be happier, so-" She gestured to the box. It was growing lighter, but there still were enough for the Chaotix group when they got back. "-take one!"

"I don't want any of your damn cookies." He spat. "Leave me alone _._ "

Amy put a hand on her hip, exasperated. "I don't get you! You were showing some signs of being nice when you offered lessons, but now you're mad at Mephiles, who just came back from the _dead_. Do you not want him back or something?"

"Shut up!" Boom snarled, quills bristling. He swiftly snatched a cookie, jostling the box. "I got one, now fuck _off._ "

Amy puffed out her cheeks, vexed beyond belief, but she did what he said. Not because she was scared of him or anything; she refused to let one moody hedgehog ruin her good day.

She subtly peeked over her shoulder and scoffed at Boom glaring into the distance again, chewing a chunk of the treat.

While Amy was distracted, Rogue sidled up to Rouge's side, the agent primarily focused on the hesitant and slow steps Mephiles was taking. However, her twin's presence caused her to cock an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Aren't you full of surprises?" She faced him with a smirk. "Didn't know you baked."

Rogue scoffed. "Nah, I don't." When curiosity shined in her eyes, he explained, "Let's just say that we didn't necessarily help Pinky. It was more like she watched while we suffered." Rouge blinked in surprise, mirth lurking beneath the surface. Rogue grinned and shrugged. "She's kinda scary when she wants to be."

The agent finished off her first cookie, about to start on her second. "You must've done something bad, hm?"

"It's a long story, but wait!" Rogue held out a hand, his suddenness making Rouge pause. He smiled in apology before softly asking, "Can I have your cookie?" She was too confused for words, he could tell. "Pinky would flip if we ate what we made, so please, Roo?"

Comprehension flooded her features, and a jeering smirk came right after. "So whenever I need you at my beck and call, all I have to do is sic Pinky on you." Rogue rolled his eyes, but he couldn't argue with that statement. Rouge held the cookie out for him to take. "You're lucky I'm nice."

Rogue spun on his heel so his back was to Amy, biting the treat. It wasn't as good as the pinkette's, but he'd buy them out of a store any day. "Thanks, Roo. Owe ya one."

Rouge simply hummed.

Away from the sneaking bats, Mephiles was currently losing a war with his legs. He could stay up just fine – fine being a relative term – but each step was a violent battle. He knew that building muscle _period_ was difficult enough, but his situation made things so much worse. Especially now that they were counting on him to-

Mephiles' body froze on the spot when a wave of sensation crashed into him, leaving him near breathless. All of his nerves were alight with energy, sending just one message to his brain: _move._

Move _where?_ His muscles were hardly listening to him, twitching in anticipation for something Mephiles couldn't fathom.

Grey was talking, and he noticed that he was the center of attention now. He didn't and couldn't respond. The tingling inside him swamped his entire system, his mind too distracted to comprehend. Shadow was speaking to him as well, brow furrowed, but the desire to _move_ grew stronger and stronger until-

"I'm back!"

Sonic zipped into the yard with a brightly shining green Chaos emerald.

Mephy's gaze snapped to the gem, and every fiber of his body was screaming to _go_.

"Keep it away from Mephiles." He heard Shadow say, the striped hedgehog still staring at him. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

His body reacted to those words before his mind had time to process. He submerged into the ground in the blink of an eye, rushing from shadow to shadow with celerity that left most of the Mobians speechless. Shadow was the outlier, yelling something Mephy blocked out.

By the time Sonic caught onto what was happening, Mephy was already in his shade. Mephiles leapt out of the ground with outreaching hands, itching to touch the emerald. Sonic attempted to keep it out of his reach, but his proximity made it a futile effort.

"Wait, Mephy!" Sonic's words penetrated his hazy mind. "We don't-"

Mephy didn't know if Sonic finished his sentence or not, for a completely different feeling flooded his system when he got both hands on the emerald. He stilled with wide eyes as chaotic energy cascaded into him, energizing his body. No… not his whole body, just his limbs. His arms and legs were being warmed from the inside out, his muscles saturated by the connection he had with the raw _power_.

Mephiles was breathing heavily as he stared at the iridescent gem, his fingertips buzzing where they touched the smooth surface. He then locked gazes with Sonic, who had a hold on the emerald as well, ready to jerk it away at any moment.

Sonic was frowning with his brows creased together. He was more worriedly curious than upset. "Mephy, what are you doing?"

"I'm sorry." Mephy mouthed genuinely, making the other pause. "I felt a pull, and…"

"A pull?" Sonic glanced around to all of the viewing eyes before returning back to him. "So, you can feel the emerald's energy?"

He could do more than just feel it, but he nodded nonetheless. He was going to explain further; however, the buzzing began to taper off. The unnatural warmth faded until he – or the Chaos emerald, he wasn't exactly sure – broke the connection.

The yard had been stunned quiet until Mephiles reluctantly dropped his hands. VC was the first one to regain his voice. "What in the world was _that_ about?"

"I don't know…" Silver's mind was stuck on how _fast_ Mephy reacted to Sonic's appearance. Why had he wanted the gem so badly? "But at least that Chaos emerald didn't transform like the other one had."

Shadow was in full agreement, but his mind was elsewhere. Sharp scarlets narrowed at Mephiles, who was clenching and unclenching his fingers.

Mephiles was one of his newer acquaintances, but Shadow knew that it was strange for him to dash right for the emerald without heeding any orders to stop and disregarding the dangerous risks.

Another thing that had caught his attention was the blank stare. As soon as Shadow had felt the incoming gem, Mephiles had frozen. His eyes were unseeing until Sonic had announced his presence.

And then the pull. Shadow had trouble accepting that. He could internally track the emeralds, but never in his life had he felt a _pull_ , especially one that caused an irrational need for it.

Questions whirling in his mind, Shadow marched over to Mephiles and sent him a withering look that conveyed how much he appreciated that risky move. Just like earlier, Mephy sent him an apologetic almost-smile, ears folding downward the closer Shadow got.

"Don't be so mad, Shads!" Sonic attempted to placate him, gesturing to the emerald. "It's still in good shape!"

"But _he_ had no way of knowing that it wouldn't be corrupted," Shadow rebutted harshly. Sonic sighed but couldn't argue, and Mephiles signed what he believed was another apology. Shadow grunted dismissively, asking, "Do you still feel the pull?"

Mephy glimpsed at the green jewel and shook his head. Interesting.

"Now tell me why the _hell_ you jeopardized the fate of _another_ emerald?"

The shadow hedgie opened and closed his mouth a few times before dropping his gaze back down to his hands. A pensive frown grew for a moment until Mephiles stepped out of the shadow he had morphed into.

He stood on solid ground, and Shadow's frown grew as Sonic gasped in surprise. Mephiles wasn't struggling to carry his own weight anymore. His knees weren't trembling, and his face wasn't twisted up in utmost concentration. He had healed himself with Chaos energy.

Shadow hadn't seen it coming, but he passed it off as yet another latent ability that rose its head. He was dumbfounded about how _quickly_ the healing was done. Mephiles had rebuilt deteriorated muscle tone in what looked like his legs _and_ arms in under thirty seconds.

Shadow was sure he couldn't achieve that feat, and he'd been manipulating chaotic energy for _years._

"Did you just… Did you just _heal_ yourself?" Sonic's awed tone kicked him out of his internal ramblings. The blue hero beamed, clearly not having the same feelings as Shadow. "I don't care that you almost tackled me anymore! That's awesome, bud!" He raised his unoccupied arm.

Mephiles smiled back at him and high-fived his hand. He examined his limb afterwards in awe, curling a tight fist.

"Oh my gosh! You're seriously not weak anymore?!" CB shouted from behind before hovering over to Mephiles. He laughed when he plopped down on Mephy's head, causing him to stumble backwards. He regained his footing just fine. "That's so cool! I can do this without worrying about you falling over!"

Mephiles silently chuckled at the bee as he walked in a circle, showing off for his friends and himself.

There was excited chatter as the crowd migrated over. Cream and Grey were the next ones to gush over Mephiles' new ability, Amy right behind them.

Shadow tore his apt attention off of Mephy when Silver stepped up to his side. The psychic was staring Mephiles down with uncertainty in his gaze. "Another one of his powers, huh?" he lowly asked. "Well, that you assume?"

Shadow side-eyed him, taking note of the doubt in his tone. "Yes."

Gold eventually met scarlets, and Silver quieted. "I'm not saying it's anything, but this Mephiles wasn't the only one with a strong affinity with the emeralds."

"Your point?"

Silver chewed his cheek. "Look, I know you have your dream late-bloomer theory…" He went back to watching Mephy. "But you have to admit that this is at least a _little_ weird."

Shadow did the same. After a beat, he uttered, "You're acting like you haven't witnessed things stranger than this."

"I just-"

"Hey, Mephy!" Their conversation concluded prematurely when Tails bounded up to the blue-striped Mobian. "Now that you have your strength back, why don't you try to conjure the power that affected the other emerald?"

"Not with the emerald so close." Shadow cut in, causing the kit to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. He then regarded Sonic, "Did you forget why you went on a hunt in the first place, Faker?"

Sonic tossed the jewel up and down. "I didn't forget! All the excitement just had me distracted!" He scanned the nearby area, finding a particular hedgehog by Cream. "Nummy, can you go heal Boom's foot for us?"

Penumbra perked up, catching the gem thrown over to him. Grey had to lean to the side so he wouldn't get hit in the face. The psychic snorted. "Forgot the jerk was here." He leapt into the air, wrapping himself in his powers as he sneered over to Boom. "You've been pretty quiet over there! Must be thinking hard and long about that apology, yeah?"

Boom flipped him off, snarling. "It's _none_ of your damn business!"

"Mephy's business is my business, so why don't you-" Grey's words died out when there was a tug on his ankle. Mephiles was shaking his head, expression pleading. _You're just making it worse,_ Grey understood from the look. He sighed as he grounded himself. "Alright, I'll shut up. For now."

Boom glared harshly at the congregated group, failing to burn that psycho to ashes like he wanted.

"Don't be mean."

Cold emerald irises snapped over to Penumbra; he was trotting over with the Chaos emerald in hand, a frown curving his lips.

"I'm not _mean_ , I'm-" Irritated, annoyed, surprised, mad that he had been surprised, ticked off that Mephiles had uprooted something he couldn't do, _pissed_ at the ounce of relief he felt when Mephiles healed his frail body.

He was angry. The scars hadn't disappeared, the psycho had been stopped from chewing him out, and all Mephiles had was sadness.

He didn't deserve sadness.

"It doesn't effing matter," Boom ultimately bit out as Penumbra squatted by his injured foot.

Nummy hovered his hand over the bandaged gash, but there was a lack of chaotic energy being transferred from palm to ankle. "No…" He retracted his fingers, causing Boom's blood to boil. His voice was slightly heard over the encouraging chants in the background. Penumbra plopped to the ground and sat crisscross. "It does effing matter."

Boom bristled his quills. "The hell do you think you're doing? Heal-"

"No." Boom clenched his fists when he was met with frustration. "Mephy is better. Why you not happy?" He was starting to hate that word. "Mephy alive and can walk. And you _mad._ I can't…" Nummy's hold on the gem unconsciously tightened as he thought about his next words. "You di-diff…diffic-"

The blue speedster grinded his teeth together. "I'm not difficult!" Penumbra nodded at him, almost proud that he had figured it out. " _You're_ the one who's not doing what they've been told to do!"

Penumbra pointed at him. "Difficult." Boom took a deep breath because he was sure Shadow wasn't going to heal him if he knocked the chatterbox out. "No heal until you tell why."

He must've lost his stupid mind. "What the – I'm not telling you _shit!_ "

"Okay."

And Penumbra sat there with the emerald tantalizingly in his lap.

Boom liked him better when he scarcely talked.

He struggled to keep any venom at bay. "Look _,_ I'll tell you why _after_ you heal me up and get away from nosy assholes." Penumbra blinked at him, and he upped the ante. "As a way to say thank you _._ "

Nummy cocked his head; Boom withheld his victorious grin when the other held his hand out, healing his slash. "Remember."

"Yeah, whatever."

A multitude of gasps caught their attention. Boom glanced over to the large group where there were a handful of awed expressions. He instantly focused on Mephiles, barely able to see him through the bodies. Enough was visible though.

All eyes were drawn to Mephy's right hand. It was palm up and overflowing with a misty darkness that dripped between his fingers, dissipating before it hit the ground.

Boom sat up straighter, breathing out, "The hell?" That's what ruined the Chaos emerald?

"It's so amazing!" CB excitedly yelled, enraptured. "What can you do with it, Mephy?"

Mephiles' shrug was delayed, awestruck by his own powers.

"Come on!" Tails was tugging at his elbow. "Let's go to my plane so I can record its energetic frequency! We'll get the Chaos emerald back in no time!"

Mephiles was borderline dragged to the aircraft resting close by, the darkness leaving a wispy trail behind him. The kit talked animatedly about something or another, and Mephiles was obviously only half listening. The flowing shadows were a major distraction.

And not just to Mephy, for Boom didn't realize he was staring until a dull ring gained his attention. He watched Vanilla excuse herself, going inside to answer the phone. It was then that Boom noticed Penumbra gazing at the plane as well, neglecting his job.

"Finish healing me, dammit!"

"Sorry!"

The tingling returned to his injury, and Boom huffed. He was out of here as soon as Nummy was done. He'd shown his face – unwillingly – and dropped off the kid, so there was no reason to be here.

He'd have to do it in a way so Penumbra couldn't find him. That nose of his was annoying.

"You all might want to come in here!" The concern laced in Vanilla's risen voice turned heads. She pointed back inside of the home, all positivity gone. "The Chaotix are on the phone."

* * *

Sonic knew that it was only a matter of time. Eggman always jumped back up after being taken down, but so _soon?_ Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he'd gotten his grubby hands on a regular emerald, or if _anyone_ else had been attacked.

Luckily Red was there to help, but Rosy and TT had wanted to take a breather from everything. It wasn't fair that they – that _she_ – had been dragged into an Eggman scheme after what happened.

And of course Egghead had to recycle _Bat_ of all robots.

The fight had been rough, from what Red told him over the phone. He couldn't blame them for losing the emerald. They hadn't been prepared, and talk about the emotional toll his presence had to be.

Well, considering what the emerald itself had done, Sonic believed it had Bat beat. Not only could it create visions, but it could influence hearing too? No wonder Eggman had it on his radar, and that was the exact reason why they had to snatch it as soon as possible.

"How much longer, Tails?"

"Almost done…"

Sonic had asked that question in favor of the entire group, for he wasn't the only one itching for some action. All of his friends were gathered around Tails' plane, waiting for the radar to pick up the emerald.

No one else was saying a word, still stunned into silence from the news and some fuming on their feet. The extremists were Mephiles, Boom, and Grey.

Mephiles was sitting on the ground, holding his head in his hands. Boom was basically trembling with rage. Grey left the area and still hadn't returned. The occasional crash of a fallen tree in the distance was a hint of his location.

"Finished!" Tails yelled out, and the group as a whole leaned in.

"Nummy, go get Grey," Sonic absently uttered as he eyed the beeping radar in the plane's dashboard. A weak gust of wind signified Penumbra's departure, and Sonic furrowed his brow at what the device was showing. "Wait, isn't that where-"

"Pyramid Cave is located, yeah." Tails pressed a few buttons to zoom in on the location. "Definitely the same desert."

"Where is he hiding?" Grey shouted as he burst back into the yard, a frowning Nummy at his heels. A growl rumbled in his throat. "Tell me where he is so I can tear his head off his shoulders!" He smiled apologetically at the aghast rabbits, but he didn't take it back.

Sonic whirled on him, raising a halting hand. "That's not-" He harshly exhaled. He had a feeling that this might happen. "We're goin' to the base to get the emerald and scare the crap out of Eggy by destroying his hideout, but we're _not_ touching him, 'kay?"

"No promises." Grey jabbed a finger in the direction of the house. "He attacked our friends out there! _Rosy_ didn't deserve-" He pulled at his ears. "We can't let him walk away like last time!"

Sonic ran his fingers through his quills. "Listen…" He managed a grin, going over and putting a hand on the psychic's shoulder. "How about this: we let you handle Bat while we take care of Eggy, alright? The bot's the one who attacked them, after all."

Grey marginally brightened. "That's _more_ than alright. I'll crush that robot down to the size of a soda can."

Once the white hedgehog was placated, Blaze asked, "What's the plan here? We can't all simply run in there without rhyme or reason." There were too many margins for error.

"First off, I'm not taking the emerald, so there is no _all._ " Shadow was sharp and cutting, this being his first words since the call. When faces twisted in confusion, he continued, "The corruption could be contagious. Rouge." He tossed the emerald over to the bat. "You're in charge of it."

Rouge cradled the gem, her eyes not quite matching her smirk. "I'm flattered, hon."

Shadow's nod was subtle. "This will be a quick job. We go in there, destroy any plan the doctor had put together, and leave. Faker, Tails, and I are going because of our experience with the base." Scarlets drifted to his double. "You too, Penumbra, for tracking." Penumbra's nod was curt.

"You must be out of your damn mind if you thought I wasn't going." Boom growled, and Shadow wasn't surprised at all. He expected it.

"I'm going too, which is obvious." Grey added. "And I don't take up a spot on the plane." He rose a brow over to Silver. "You coming too, twin?"

Silver nodded. He was all for going in fast and hitting hard. But also, he was going to keep a keen eye on Grey, Penumbra, and Boom. Particularly the former two. Just in case they forgot what the definition of a hero was.

After one visual sweep of the plane's size, Blaze noticed that one potential seat was open, and she was about to voice her inclusion. It was obvious that hard hitters who were quick on their feet were the go-to's for this mission.

However, Mephiles stood up and gestured to himself. The determination in his eyes caused her to back off, understanding. He was the one to create the troublesome emerald, so he would help get it back.

Shadow regarded Mephiles before glancing over to Boom, who was scowling at nothing again. Regaining eye contact, Mephy nodded, resolve unshaken.

"Fine, but _don't_ get distracted." Shadow only let Mephiles join because of his sneaking prowess, and it was the perfect time to learn what his new ability was capable of, besides sending Chaos emeralds into a frenzy. Potentially, it could reverse what the gem had gone through in the process.

Shadow didn't bother with any more conversation. He gracefully hopped onto the right wing of the plane, commanding, "Let's go."

Penumbra settled into the open spot beside him without hesitation, muscles tense as he crouched on the inside portion of the wing. "Let's go," he echoed with a hint of a growl.

After taking a deep breath – he'd done this before with arguably more risk – Mephiles climbed into the seat behind Tails. Boom wordlessly took a spot on the left wing, leaving more than enough space for Sonic between him and Mephy.

"Okay then…" Sonic jumped into that space, mock-saluting those not embarking on the trip. He didn't mind being the fence because Boom hadn't exactly been the most rational of individuals. "Can't keep the doctor waiting!"

The engine of the plane roared when Tails pulled a lever. The ones not part of the mission waved as the aircraft rolled forward.

"Be safe out there!" Cream called after them.

Amy cupped her mouth. "And you better bring back that emerald!"

CB punched the air. "And kick Eggman's butt too!"

"You can count on it!" Sonic grinned as they took off into the air, Grey and Silver darting behind with waves of their own.

Rouge lowered a hand when the aircraft disappeared over the overreaching branches of trees. She tapped her fingers on the beauty in her grasp before asking her neighbor, "Why didn't you want to go, sugar?"

"There's no point, really." Rogue linked his hands behind his head, his steely turquoise orbs contrasting his relaxed stance. "Those dudes will get more than enough hits in for me. Plus-" He grinned at her. "Don't think bat ears are great with vibrations."

"True," she said, amused as she watched CB made one last plea to Amy about those cookies of hers. Pinky stood her ground. "And I don't know if you would be able to handle the ghosts."

Rogue wanted to laugh it off as a joke, but she uttered it so flippantly that maybe, just maybe he had dodged a serious bullet by staying behind.

* * *

"There she is! In all her beauty!"

Grey gave Sonic an odd look as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, squinting against the harsh sunlight. "You can't be seeing what I'm seeing."

Sonic chuckled at the flying psychic above them, hand protecting his eyes from the blinding rays. The massive pyramid they were steadily approaching was nothing flashy, but... "C'mon, don't you think it's cool?"

Grey barked out a laugh. "You gotta be crazy to want me to believe that one of Eggman's bases is _cool_."

Boom, speaking for the first time on this flight, scoffed. "Ironic, coming from you."

"Hey!"

They were locked in a heated stare-down, and Sonic snickered while also hoping that they would be better team players inside the base.

On the other side of the plane, Silver was sizing up the behemoth of a structure. "It's huge." He glimpsed down at the two red-striped hedgehogs beneath him. Both Penumbra and Shadow were gazing at the pyramid with intensity. "Shadow." One black ear twitched. " _Please_ don't tell me that the whole thing is the base."

"We'll split up if need be."

Silver inwardly sighed, and Mephiles fought to control his nerves. Mephy knew this shouldn't be as nerve-wracking as his break-in at Westopolis. He was surrounded by heroes with tons of experience and those who lacked the skill had the determination and drive to make up for it.

It was just…the pyramid was so massive, and even with eyes around him, _he_ was going in blind and Bat was in there along with the emerald _he_ ruined that could possibly-

No, he had to calm down. He couldn't be dead weight for them. He started this problem, so he was going to fix it. He'd taken on Metal Sonic alone; how hard could this be?

"There's no robots patrolling around." Tails switched a few levers, decreasing the speed of the plane. "The whole perimeter looks clear, actually. I'm going to drop you guys off at the entrance."

Mephiles took in a sharp breath and released it shakily. He could do this.

"Wonder if he blocked off the old one we used," Sonic mused.

"Won't stop us if he had!" Tails replied as he angled the aircraft in a gentle decline.

Even so, Shadow had to clamp a hand on Penumbra's shoulder to help him keep his balance on the wing.

The base of the pyramid was surrounded by ancient raised platforms in varying degrees of collapse. The ones closer to the impressive landmark were in better condition; Tails landed the plane on a square platform connecting to the aforementioned entrance. The kit sighed in relief when his new ride didn't tumble into the sands upon contact.

Grey stepped onto the short stone walkway in front of a wide door with Eggman's smiling face painted on it. "What a narcissist," he commented while resting his mind. This trip was _nowhere_ as long as the one he and Rogue had taken over an ocean, but it wasn't a walk in a park either. And it was _hot._

Silver landed beside him, his thoughts on whatever was behind the mocking entrance. "Do you think Eggman knows we're here?" he asked those disembarking the aircraft.

"Oh yeah, definitely." Sonic grinned as Tails shut off the engine. "Or at least he knows that we're on our way." He walked up and examined the door as well. "How'd you get this door open last time, Tails?"

The fox hovered over with a frown. "Well, there had been a bunch of robots synched to the door, and when I destroyed them, it opened." He tapped his chin, scanning the area. "Now, I don't-"

His sentence died off when the solid barrier was encased by a cyan glow. After a synchronized grunt, the door rumbled as it slid open. Grey and Silver lowered their arms when the interior of the pyramid was revealed for everyone to see.

Sonic clapped Silver on the shoulder and gave Grey a thumbs up. "Great job! Knowing psychics back then would've made navigating this bad boy a _whole_ lot easier. Hourglasses are the worst, I tell ya."

"This isn't the time for reminiscing, Faker. We have a job to do." Shadow borderline snapped as he crossed the threshold. "Didn't I tell you not to get distracted?"

"I thought that was only for Mephy!"

The hedgehog in question wasn't engrossed in the conversation, instead taking in all of what they were about to dive into. As expected, the inside seemed as rough and worn as the outside. The walls that shaped this curved tunnel were covered with cracked red, white, and green paint. Chunks of the ceiling were missing, leaving jagged holes.

The winding hallway was scarcely lit, with only one light source on the wall that he could see. The visibility was fine now because of the sunlight filtering in behind them, but once they explored deeper, who knew if-

"Don't just stand there like a damn idiot."

Mephiles' gasp was silent as he stumbled forward, barely preventing a painful meeting with the ground. He cradled his throbbing right shoulder, gaping. Boom was strolling in front of him like nothing had happened, catching up with most of the others who were already inside.

Mephy frowned at the speedster's back, at a loss of what to do. Interacting with him didn't work and ignoring him clearly wasn't the answer either. What in the world had he _done?_

The shadow hedgehog stiffened when a sizable piece of stone was launched at the back of Boom's head. The thud seemed to echo, and so did the resulting curse.

Boom whirled around with a blazing inferno in his eyes. "What the fuck!?"

"Stop being _mean_." Penumbra viciously hissed from beside the appalled Mephy, his glare matching in intensity.

The others had paused at this point, wondering what was happening.

Grey peered over his shoulder. His curious golds snapped between the two bristling hedgehogs. "Don't know what the jerk did, but I'm sure he deserved it."

Shadow wasn't in the mood to babysit. "Penumbra, calm down _now,_ and Sonic, if you can't get a handle on your issues, then there's the damn door."

Boom whirled on him, hissing, "I don't have effing issues!"

"Then prove it."

Tails and Silver were wide eyed while Sonic lowly whistled.

Shadow gave the irate Boom another pointed look before dropping the time-wasting spat altogether. "Penumbra, come up to the front." Nummy, who had relaxed his stance and gaze, nodded. Mephy hopped in his shade, still reeling about what just happened. "We need you to track Eggman's scent if we come across it."

"Okay." Penumbra crouched low to the ground. "I try."

Shadow got into the position to dart forward, but a shocked gasp from behind prevented him from doing so. He spun on his heel, ready to attack any threat that had snuck up on them.

That wasn't the case.

Instead of a robot or Eggman himself, an expansive metal wall stood tall where the entrance had been.

Silver had frozen, for he was the only one to see it _materialize_ in the corner of his eye. "How? Where did that even come from!?"

Grey's pulse was already pounding in his ears. "I-It didn't make a sound!"

"Stand back!" Sonic sprinted to the wall and jumped, curling himself into a tight ball. Quills tensed, sparks immediately sprayed everywhere once Sonic rammed into the solid structure. After a couple seconds of sawing at the obstacle, he fell to the ground, confusion flooding his body.

He hadn't sliced clean through the wall; there was no sign that he'd _touched_ it.

"Well…" Sonic stood from his crouch, eyes roaming the anomaly in front of him. "That's new." The plain wall didn't look reinforced at all and there was no sign of Master Emerald trickery, so what-

"P-Pretty cool, right?"

A familiar robotic voice emanated behind them, and their shock increased tenfold. No one had heard the approach. The group were in an enclosed tunnel; any boosters and whirling gears should have echoed and warned of his presence. But they didn't. Penumbra was as baffled as everyone else because it seemed like he had appeared out of thin _air._

The heroes faced the newcomer in one swift move, bared teeth and cold glares coming into play.

Bat wasn't bothered in his slightest. His broad smile twitched. "Y-You're gonna have a _blast_ in this place."

* * *

 **You know you're doing something wrong when** _ **Nummy**_ **tries to discipline you. And would you look at that, Bat has been taking some stealth lessons. Weird.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **I know that I'm updating wayyy late, but I just wanna thank you guys for your patience and support for the story! I appreciate it so much! Here's the next chapter!**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 11- When things don't go to plan**

"Y-You're gonna have a _blast_ in this place."

Grey instantly saw red. That metallic monster was standing there with an easygoing smile like he hadn't terrorized his friends on multiple occasions. Like he hadn't _ruined someone's life_.

A deep scowl marred his muzzle as he shot out an arm, making sure that he completed his part of the mission. Bat glanced over at him, but that irritating smile stayed firm. Grey didn't care. The robot's head was about to be the size of a golf ball anyway.

The psychic swiftly clenched his fists, and his breath hitched when Bat didn't collapse upon himself as planned. "What?" He tried again and again, gaining the attention of some of the other heroes. "Why aren't you-"

His barely formed question went unanswered, for Penumbra's guttural growl cut him off. Nummy bolted forward and pounced at the robot, teeth bared and claws ready to shred with no remorse.

Bat's smile widened when the hedgehog leapt through him like he was nothing but smoke.

Unadulterated shock mixed with the heroes' anger as Penumbra landed behind Bat, skidding across the stone. Nummy whipped his head around, no less confused than the others watching.

"How?" Sonic asked, unable to comprehend. They'd been in the pyramid for less than five minutes, and things weren't going as smoothly as he'd imagined.

Bat smirked back at the hissing Penumbra for another moment before regarding the wary group, his artificial gaze sweeping back and forth. "A-Anyone else wanna give it a shot?" he teased, ignoring Sonic altogether. "T-Third time's the charm!"

"Just shut _up!_ " Grey shouted in rage and frustration. He had no clue to what was going on; however, this robot needed to be disposed of. Now. The psychic shrouded himself in a cyan aura and was about to charge, but a voice stopped him in his tracks.

"It's a fucking illusion."

Boom disregarded the curious eyes on him, his heated gaze staying locked onto Bat. That damn robot seemed as real as every other person in the tunnel, but he had witnessed unwelcome illusions before and there was no other explanation why Penumbra didn't make contact.

It was almost disappointing. Decommissioning that tin can would have made his shitty day marginally better.

The new information only made Silver warier. "An illusion?" He looked Bat up and down, disliking how there was no hint of him being a mere hallucination. "Then Eggman definitely has that weird emerald…"

"Y-You guessed right, dude!" Bat gestured at himself. "C-Courtesy of me! Y-Your friends are pretty good at fighting. That girl was especially stubborn." A twitchy grin grew. "B-But I'm better."

Grey gritted his teeth together and hissed, "You _piece of-"_

"Don't," Shadow crisply said once their situation had digested. "He's nothing but a distraction. Interacting with him is a waste of time and energy." He made a show of approaching Bat and harmlessly walking through him. Shadow glanced over his shoulder and ordered, "Ignore him and let's go."

Bat snickered. "I-I bet you're _all_ sorts of fun at parties, huh?"

If anyone else had made that quip, Sonic would have gone along with the joke, but since this robot – well, the real one – had brutally attacked his friends, he had to agree with Shadow.

"Yeah, let's get a move on!" Sonic jogged past Bat, sparing him a swift glimpse. "We need to get that emerald before Eggy pulls any more tricks!"

Everyone agreed. Boom and Silver completely disregarded the grinning robot as they passed him, Tails was thinking of all the tests he could run with the emerald as he followed, Grey threw Bat one more angry glare as he flew by, and Mephy – halfway submerged in the psychic's shadow – had trouble swallowing his guilt as the illusion waved goodbye and promptly disappeared.

"So that's how the emerald works…" Tails pondered aloud as the group picked up speed, dashing through the rundown tunnel. He looked at Boom and Grey, figuring that they had seen something similar with their experiences with the gem. "We have to be extra careful in here now! If Bat shows up again, we won't know whether he's real or not."

Sonic wasn't worried in the slightest. He smiled back at the kit. "Shouldn't be too hard! It'll only take a second to figure out if he can be attacked." He smirked over to Grey. "If so, you'll take care of him, yeah?"

The psychic smirked back. "Without any hesitation." Grey focused on Penumbra running ahead of him. "You hear that, Nummy? Before was a fluke because it was a fake, but Bat is _mine._ "

Penumbra's head slightly turned, meeting his gaze. "Okay." There was a glint in his eyes. "If you fast enough."

"Oh, don't you worry about that." All Grey needed was one glorious second.

Sonic was relieved that they were only talking about Bat, but he was sure certain occupants of their party would have to be reminded of restraint if they ran into Eggman.

They would cross that bridge when they got there. For now, he was sure there was a deep drop off coming up that lacked said structure.

"If you're a non-flyer, you might wanna speed up a bit." Sonic advised when they turned a curved corner, eagerly grinning at Boom and Penumbra in particular. He knew Shadow would be able to handle it just fine. "There's a ramp up ahead with pretty much a bottomless pit after it. Just a heads up!"

"A ramp?" Nummy repeated with a head tilt.

"Just follow our lead," Shadow curtly replied before essentially doubling his speed. Sonic barked out a laugh as he did the same, his feet blurring.

Penumbra blinked when Boom copied their actions with a huff, speeding forward. Nummy hesitated for a moment, looking behind at the rest of their group.

Silver waved him off, knowing from his facial expression that he didn't want to leave them behind. "Don't worry! We'll catch up!"

That seemed to do the trick, for Penumbra smiled as he pushed his muscles harder to catch up with the other speedsters.

Ahead, Sonic had already propelled himself off the ramp and was soaring high in the air. The worn narrow tunnel had opened up into a huge room filled with winding stone paths and troublesome doors. There were pillars and arches lining the paths, supporting a multitude of fiery torches. They were the only source of light in this space, their flickering flames unable to illuminate the pitch-black darkness below.

It was safe to say that this place hadn't changed much from the last time Sonic had visited.

The speedster reached the only stone platform in range, rolling to minimize impact. Hearing a grunt behind him, Sonic spun around to see Shadow landing in a crouch, Boom doing the same a second after.

Boom took in his surroundings as he stood up, hating that he was basically going to be a follower during this mission. He wasn't complaining about the Eggman from his dimension being an unimaginative push-over, but dammit, he would've liked _some_ experience in these random locations.

"I'd move if I were you, Boom."

Said hedgehog frowned at Sonic's cryptic wording and amused grin before realizing that his double was looking at something _above_ him.

Boom sidestepped just in time to avoid a collision with a particular striped hedgehog. He glared as Penumbra rolled with the landing, popping back up and absorbing the new environment. If Penumbra hadn't been, well… _Penumbra_ , Boom would've bet anything that the asshole deliberately aimed for him.

Even if it was an accident, Boom still had to get revenge for that stupid rock throw.

"Whoa." An echoing voice caught his attention, and Boom looked up to see that the fliers had reached the room. Tails and Grey were hovering over to the platform, an anxious Mephiles being guided by the latter, while Silver gulped as he peered down into the darkness below. "You weren't kidding when you said bottomless pit."

Sonic chuckled. "I mean, it's probably not an endless hole, but I really don't wanna test that theory out." Silver nodded in understanding, not eager to find out either.

"So, where to now?" Grey questioned as he gently landed on the rugged stone. He must've been too close to Boom, for he caught a glimpse of Mephy zipping over to Penumbra's shadow. The psychic understood. Boom had it out for him for some dumb reason. "There are too many places to go, and I don't feel like getting lost."

Sonic pensively tapped his foot. "Well, the safest bet is to head straight for the center. That's where we met up with Eggy the last time we were here-" He bobbed his head at Tails. "-and his base of operations is always in middle of these things anyway."

It seemed like Boom wasn't happy with what he said. "And what if he's _not_ there, jackass? We-"

Sonic gestured over to Penumbra, who was curiously peering down at the darkness below, and Boom's argument deflated with a derisive huff.

While the blue speedsters had been talking, Shadow was examining every possible path, digging through his memories. He didn't know the base like the back of his hand, but he had enough knowledge to keep them on the right track.

If memory served him right, then, "We need to take the high road." There was a sealed door up ahead that ultimately led them to an upper winding path, heading deeper into the pyramid.

"Took the words right outta my mouth!" Sonic trotted ahead, gesturing for the others to follow. "It should be the quickest path to where that emerald is hiding."

"Possibly," Boom grunted, and Sonic ignored him.

Stopping a few feet away from the sliding door, Sonic eyed the sand-filled stone hourglass beside him before saying, "This was what I was talkin' about before. They put the doors on a timer, but-" He whirled around to face the observing group, mainly the psychics. They had opened the entrance to the pyramid, so this should be just as easy. "-you guys try and pry the door open! It would be one less thing to worry about."

Silver nodded as he flew over with Grey on his tail. He'd do anything to make this trip as fast and painless as possible. "I imagine that the time limits are basically impossible deeper in?" Silver asked as he focused his mind.

The door began to glow as Sonic shrugged. "Not for me! But those who can't break the sound barrier might have a bit of trouble."

Grey snorted. "Which is just your fancy way of saying that we'd be too slow."

Sonic grinned.

The psychics looked at each other, ready, before gritting their teeth and straining to lift the door like they had done a handful of minutes earlier.

The door didn't budge.

Grey glared at the stubborn barrier. "Come on, you stupid thing!"

Silver pushed for a few more seconds, eventually giving up with a sigh. "No luck…" He then addressed his frowning twin, "Don't strain yourself too hard."

Grey listened, annoyance being instantly replaced with confusion. "Why can't we do it now? It looks no different from the other door!"

"It's not important." Shadow believed that whatever limits the psychics had could be placed on the backburner. He approached the stone hourglass and, with a forceful shove, made it rotate on a central axis, flipping the object on its head. The immobile door before swiftly slid open, a distinct ticking filling the air.

While half of their party gazed in surprise, Shadow skated under the slowly lowering stone. "Save the experimentation for later. We don't have time for it now."

"Well, it could've _saved_ time, Mr. Pushy!" Sonic retorted behind him, and he heard a psychic – most likely Silver – mutter in agreement.

Shadow didn't respond to them, focused on the path ahead. The green and red stone track winded to and fro, sharply dipping before curling into a sizable loop de loop. It was nothing the others couldn't handle.

The striped hedgehog spared the rest of the group a backward glance before speeding up. There was no point in leisurely strolling through the base. They had to get to Eggman as quickly as possible, and no one here was a stranger to speed; excluding Mephiles, but he could easily keep up in his own way.

Channeling chaos energy to his feet, Shadow boosted forward, leaving blackened trails in his wake. A steady hum of footsteps sounded beside him, Sonic meeting his pace.

They hugged each craggy curve, maintaining their steady strides. Wind rushed against Shadow's face when the angle shifted. No words were uttered as they zoomed down the decline, pushing themselves marginally faster so they could clear the upcoming loop.

Shadow effortlessly skated up the curved path, glancing up – or rather down – when he was at its apex. Boom and Penumbra were halfway up while the rest were just flying to where the loop ended.

Sonic must've seen too, for he scoffed. " _Sure_ , just suck the fun right out of it!"

Shadow didn't bother responding. Gravity took hold of them as they dashed downwards, eventually reaching level ground and clearing the loop.

The hedgehogs didn't slow down for the rest, maintaining their speed for the upcoming jump. After a slight incline, Shadow jumped when the track abruptly ended, flipping and aiming for a jutting out ledge leading to another closed door.

His landing was clean, and unfortunately, a millisecond after Sonic's.

A jeering look from the blue speedster was all that was needed. "It wasn't a race," Shadow grunted as he examined the hourglass present and the door, unable to see beyond since they had reached an expansive wall. "The outcome would've been different if it had been."

"Whatever you say, Shads," Sonic teased when Boom and Penumbra met up with them on the ledge.

Nummy had a small smile on his face, gazing back at the loop. "Fun! Want more of those."

Boom scowled at him. "We didn't come here for _fun._ We're on a serious mission to get that stupid emerald, so if you can't get that through your _thick_ head-"

"Yeah, just keep yelling." Grey interrupted once he caught up, his sarcasm palpable. "Because I'm sure your loud voice isn't giving away our exact location."

Boom resembled a volcano threatening to erupt.

Tails hovered near Sonic, placing a frowning Mephiles on solid ground. "I think we should keep moving so there won't be any time for arguments…"

Mephy nodded, and Sonic had to agree as well. However, arguments were inevitable with Boom. Hopefully focusing his mind on navigating the base would keep them to a minimum.

Wasting no more time, Sonic pushed the hourglass, opening the way for them. "Let's keep it going, guys! We've got more ground to cover, more loops to loop!" He grinned over at Nummy, and he perked up with an excited smile.

Sonic zipped through the door and nearly stumbled over his feet when he was met with hot air and a blazing sun.

Blinking his eyes to get used to the brightness, Sonic could do nothing but gape at the airplane they had left behind. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water as he slowly realized that he was back _outside._

The sun shone overhead, wind rustled his quills, sand was shifting underneath the platform, and Sonic was beginning to wonder about his own mental state.

"What…" Sonic turned to see Silver floating beside him, his expression twisted in the same amount of disbelief he was feeling. Silver's brow furrowed. "This…This can't be real!" He met Sonic's gaze for a second before grounding himself. "We were just inside!" Silver then addressed Shadow, who was absorbing the change in scenery in silence. "This has to be an illusion, right?"

Shadow nodded, for there was no other explanation. No matter how hyper-realistic it looked, it couldn't be any more than a trick of the mind.

Sonic wasn't so sure. He was completely positive that this was _actual_ wind they were feeling. "But we shouldn't be able to be touched by whatever happens! This wind can't be a figure of my imagination and-" Sonic paused when the plane began to float a bit off the ground, courtesy of Silver. "-and that."

The psychic's mind was whirling. "My powers shouldn't work! The plane isn't real because there's no _way_ we're actually outside!" He carefully set the aircraft back down. "We didn't go in any circles, so how?"

"Stop asking questions we can't possibly know the answers to," Shadow crisply said, eyes zipping around to find some solution to their problem. "We have to find a way to break this illusion. You can ask how _later._ "

Silver eventually nodded, getting where he was coming from. Shaking free of this was first on the priority list with the 'hows' becoming a respectable second.

"W-Well, you can't really break what's not there."

The trio of hedgehogs whirled around at that familiar robotic voice, varying degrees of surprise and annoyance dancing in their veins.

Silver wasted no time in trying to smash the winged robot into the nearest wall, but Bat remained unharmed standing in the now open entrance of the pyramid.

"This doesn't make any sense." Silver breathed, slowly lowering his hand even though that smile needed to be wiped off the bot's face.

Shadow was deeply scowling now, quills threateningly bristling, but of course the hallucination wasn't intimidated at all. Bat nodded at Silver, opticals glinting in the light. "Y-Yeah, it's kinda confusing, but I can clear up a couple things for you, dude!" He was addressing all of the hedgehogs now. His grin grew. "I-I'm still an illusion, but you guys are definitely outside."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "You're lying _._ "

Bat spread his arms out in a wide gesture. "Y-You serious, man? L-Look around! W-What makes you thi-"

"Wait, pump the brakes." Sonic had been so shocked about this new development that he justrealized that he, Shadow, and Silver were the _only_ heroes outside. There was nothing behind Bat but an empty tunnel. The rest of their group was gone _._

"Where are our friends?" he asked, Silver and Shadow tensing at the realization as well. Worry sparked in Sonic's chest. "What did you do to them?!"

Bat had the nerve to blink innocently. "I-I didn't do anything! C-Can't, remember?" He jabbed his finger over his shoulder, mouth twitching upwards once more. "W-Wanna dive back in and look for them?"

Sonic shifted his weight, about to rush ahead. Only Tails had been in this base before, and he had a gut feeling that things weren't going smoothly wherever they were.

"Wait, faker."

"What?" Sonic shot Shadow an impatient glance. "We gotta-"

"We can't just dash back in there." Hardened scarlets shifted from the entertained robot to the darkened tunnel. "If we're in an illusion, running ahead would send us plummeting into that same pit we jumped over." Before Sonic could say anything else, he focused on the psychic. "Silver."

Silver didn't have to be told a thing. He wrapped the speedsters up in his powers and rocketed into the gaping stone mouth.

Bat's wave was ignored.

* * *

"So, where to now? There are too many places to go, and I don't feel like getting lost."

As Sonic answered Grey's question – with Boom adding his own opinion as well – Tails looked around, memories of the base flooding back. Hopefully this time they wouldn't end up being rocketed to space.

The kit gazed ahead at the path he believed led straight for the center, to where Eggman should be.

Apparently, Shadow had a differing solution.

The striped hedgehog was pointing to a path to the side, which snaked to the right and led to various stone platforms. "The quickest path inward is that way."

The rest of the group simultaneously followed his line of sight, and Tails marginally frowned. He knew that Shadow probably knew more paths because of his partnership with Eggman back then, but... "Are you sure?"

Shadow grunted in affirmation.

" _Real_ articulate, Shads." Sonic taunted before grinning at Tails in assurance. "There's gotta be many ways to get to the center, and who's to say that this way isn't faster?"

"If you say so…" the kit ceded, trusting his big bro.

"You heard when I said that I _don't_ want to get lost, right?" Grey reminded, because this place was too big and too unfamiliar to get comfortable in.

Sonic waved him off. "You're not gonna get _lost._ " He winked. "You just have to keep up! Let's go!"

Boom glowered at the pep his twin shouldn't have in this situation when Sonic ran off. "Why is he _always_ effing like this."

"Learn to get used to it," Shadow uttered before taking off as well.

Boom scoffed, following the curving path along with everyone else. He wouldn't have to get used to it. After this little mission was over, he was gone. He didn't know where he was going, but it didn't matter. As long as it was _away_ , he was all for it.

He could do it without any irritating guilt either. There was another teacher for Rosy that could take his place without an issue. Mephiles would be a better teacher anyway.

Ignoring the latent anger bubbling inside at the _thought_ of his name, Boom focused ahead and saw that Sonic had already reached the end of the rocky road. He watched as his double launched himself into the air and grabbed hold of a horizontal bar being held up by two stone pillars. Sonic used his momentum to swing from that bar to another and then to an awaiting structure.

Shadow copied his moments near perfectly, making it over the bottomless pit without any problems.

Flying above the track, Tails glanced between the waiting hedgehogs and the ones approaching the potentially dangerous obstacle. Well, he was more concerned about Penumbra than Boom. "Does anyone want us to carry them across?"

Boom simply glared at him, as expected.

Penumbra didn't answer at first, his eyes wide with wonder as he ran. After a second, he declined the offer. "Don't help. I can try!"

Mephiles halfway emerged from Nummy's shadow, not planning on going along with the striped hedgehog's attempt. He couldn't if he wanted to anyway. The shadow would blend in with the darkness below, and he would rather not be stuck at the bottom of the pyramid covered with nothing but inky blackness.

Mephy locked eyes with Tails and held his arms up, nodding in thanks when the kit lifted him by his wrists. Now airborne, Mephiles watched as Boom and Penumbra sped up, jumping and reaching for the bar.

They both caught on, but only Boom utilized the momentum, flipping to the next bar and to Sonic's and Shadow's side with ease.

Penumbra just… hung there.

Silver called out to him, floating nearer. "Uh… are you sure that you don't need any help?"

Nummy was looking up at the bar like it was an elaborate puzzle. He repeated, "Don't help," before pulling up on the stone, arms subtly shaking. He carefully leaned forward and managed to get a leg up there, the second one joining a moment after.

Penumbra shifted his weight and smiled victoriously as he crouched, balanced on the bar like a trained gymnast. He hopped to the second obstacle and to the rocky platform with grace.

Grey barked out a laugh. "Well, that's one way to do it!"

Boom huffed. "He's nothing but a damn show-off."

Nummy, still proud of his performance, cocked his head at him. "Show-off?"

Boom pointedly didn't answer, cutting his eyes over at Shadow. "Are you just going to stand there?Where to next?"

Sonic was the one to respond, rolling his emerald irises and pointing upward at a cliff with multiple ledges and footholds to help climb over. "This wall looks promising but I dunno."

Boom was nowhere in the mood for this. He stomped over and made quick work scaling the short cliff, muttering unheard threats all the while.

At the top, he pulled himself up to see that the fliers, plus Mephiles, had already made it. Their attention was split between an hourglass off to the side and the sealed door in the distance.

Boom growled. "Why the hell haven't you flipped it yet?"

Tails answered, "We don't know how quick the timer will go, so-"

One impulsive and vindictive action later, Boom was running for the door that was creeping slowly back toward the ground. There were complaints behind him. He didn't care. The door was going at a snail's pace anyway. It would be their fault if they didn't make it.

Boom zipped into the opening under the stone with plenty of room to spare, slowing down to absorb the new space he'd entered. The room was as large and questionably deep as the last. A multitude of paths converged and divided, slithering like snakes in different directions to dead ends, doors, and tunnels.

If they weren't going the right way, Boom's fist was going to meet Shadow's face.

"You're really living up to your nickname, you know that?" His blue ear twitching, Boom peered back, giving the frowning Grey a level gaze. The psychic took a deep breath as Silver, Tails, and Mephiles bolted in after him. The door was halfway down. "You're the undisputed _king_ of jerks."

"And you talk too damn much. What else is new?"

Grey had the sudden urge to flick the other over the edge, and it must've shown on his face because Mephy shook his head at him.

The psychic smothered the feeling, for now, and got out of the way when Sonic and Shadow rushed in. They had to duck to avoid crashing into the lowering stone. Penumbra was right on their tail, glaring at Boom once he was safe.

He picked up a loose rock and aimed, but Mephiles slid over and lowered his arm. They didn't need to start a fight in here. They already had enough to worry about without fists and feet flying.

Penumbra dropped the rock, albeit reluctantly.

"We should've left you back at the rabbits' place." Shadow's words were cutting as he stared heatedly at Boom. "Because you're obviously too immature to handle this situation."

Boom snorted, his words equally as cutting. "It's too late to do anything about it now. I'm here whether you like it or not."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "It's never too late. I will escort you out of here _myself_ if you pull something like that again."

Boom glowered, teeth bared. "I'd like to see you _try,_ Stripes."

"Whoa, whoa, guys!" Sonic stepped in between them, exasperated. "Can't we get all along for an hour?" He asked both of them, but it was obvious that he was addressing Boom. "Or until we leave? Time spent arguing is time that should be spent navigatin' the place." Sonic gestured over to the awaiting track. "Now, can we go without any friendly fire?"

Mephiles watched as Shadow and Boom glared at each other, bristled quills taking their time in lowering. Mephy appreciated Sonic's intervention because he knew that he could calm Penumbra down, but Shadow was a whole different story.

Movement in the corner of Mephy's eye called his attention. Penumbra had gone rigid with his brow creased and eyes cast unseeingly to the ground. The movement came from his ears, rotating and twitching.

Mephiles' brow creased, nonplussed. _Is he hearing something we can't?_ His question was soon answered when those ears stilled, alert maroons snapping to his curious greens.

Nummy didn't get a chance to speak.

Mephy's world blurred when a force akin to a runaway train slammed into his back. He would've screamed if he had the ability to as his body careened off the platform like a lifeless ragdoll.

Penumbra's shouting filled the space however, and Mephiles' stomach churned when he entered freefall with no hint of ground beneath him.

Nummy was at his side, clawing up at the track as if that would return them to its safety. Mephy's heart hammered in his chest, and he caught a glimpse of horrified expressions before they were swallowed up by the darkness.

* * *

A booming blast echoed in the air, nearly sending all of the heroes to their knees. Pained gasps were barely heard over the ringing in their own ears, but somehow, the guttural yells of Penumbra managed to break through the high-pitched buzzing.

Boom instantly stopped massaging his abused ears and straightened, searching for the red-striped hedgehog only to find that the others were doing the same. Penumbra was nowhere to be found, and neither was Mephiles.

And that was when he realized that the shouting was getting _farther away._

"D-Don't worry about your friends!"

Every muscle in Boom's body tensed when Bat materialized in the air above them, wearing that same damn smile. The robot bobbed his head below. "T-The real me's gonna catch them!"

All of Grey's rage at the sight of the fake bot drained. "Catch…?" he rasped, horror squeezing his throat.

Boom didn't bother with questions. He rushed to the edge of the stone path. There was a presence on both sides of him, but all of his focus was on Mephiles and Penumbra. They were looking back up at them as they plunged. Absolute terror was all Boom could make out until shadows grabbed hold of them.

All blood in the blue speedster's body ran cold, ice chilling his veins. "Fuck," he breathed, chest beginning to heave. It wasn't going to happen again. He _refused._ "Fuck, fuck, _fuck!_ " Boom whipped his head to the side, yelling at the petrified psychic beside him. "Why the _fuck_ aren't you _moving?!_ "

Grey jerked as if he'd been slapped, asking himself the same question. He needed to go, to _save_ them before it was too late. Grey was floating in an instant, emotions violently clashing within him.

"Wait!" Silver flew in front of him, holding out a halting hand. "Don't go!"

"What in the hell are you _doing?!_ " Grey was in hysterics, voice high and breaking. He swung out an arm to push the other away from him. "Get out of the-"

All words died in his throat when his arm sliced through Silver's stomach with little resistance.

Silver's worry morphed into a soft smile, but Grey felt no warmth. "Guess I've been caught, huh?" Fear shoved Grey backwards, holding his shaking hand. Boom and Tails scrambled back from the edge as well, tense. "It doesn't really matter. All of you are split up, so our job here is done."

"Our?" Grey squeaked, and Boom had half the mind to take a dive into the abyss himself.

"Who cares?!" Boom barked at the trembling psychic. "Go down there and look for them!"

"W-Why would you, though?" Bat floated down, and Silver hovered at his side. "Y-You aren't going to find them because the real me took 'em. L-Listen." He cupped his mouth with his hands. "D-Do you guys hear me down there?"

There was no response.

"S-See?" Bat grinned. "T-They're gone. A-And not in a dead kind of way."

Silver nodded. "Not really a good idea to kill test subjects. Have to keep all of you alive."

"Test-"

"You'll find out eventually." Shadow interrupted Boom, going to stand by the robot. He crossed his arms, having no right to look as tangible, _real,_ as he did. "Or maybe not."

Boom's fists clenched, glaring death at the striped hedgehog – no – _illusion._ His thoughts were a whirlwind. _When did it happen? Where in the hell are they if they aren't here?_ A small, insulted part of him then asked, _Did I seriously argue with a stupid illusion?_

Grey was hyperventilating at this point. "I can't – This isn't-" He nearly jumped out of his skin when Tails flew over and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. The kit attempted to smile at him, but it was clear as day that the kid was as rattled as he was.

"Calm down, okay?" Tails advised, fighting to keep his own voice strong despite their situation. "We have to keep our heads on straight in here." When Grey eventually nodded, taking deep breaths, the fox swallowed nervously before glancing over at a particular speedster standing to the side. "Right, Sonic?"

Tails had already assumed, but it didn't stop his gut from dropping when Sonic spoke. "Sure, pal! You guys can't go crazy lookin' for that emerald, right?"

Boom cursed like a sailor in his mind, stone cold emeralds trained on Bat. "What in the _hell_ did you do to them?"

Bat's grin twitched. "W-We didn't do anything. C-Can't, remember?"

And then the three heroes were alone.

All of the hallucinations disappeared like they never had been there, and Boom resisted the urge to yell in anger and frustration. Sonic, Stripes, and Silver were effing _gone,_ and Penumbra and Mephiles were as good as d-

No. No they weren't. As much as Boom wanted to refuse every word those illusions said, Bat had to have taken them. Now that surprises had stopped slapping him across the face, it made sense. Mephiles could melt into shadows, and the whole damn space down there was drowning with them. He wouldn't get hurt hitting the ground. Penumbra… would be fine too. Boom couldn't give a reason why but he _would_ , dammit.

If they had been down there, the heroes would've heard _some_ kind of sound from them. Also, that annoying robot _had_ to have been here to cause that burst of wind. They were alright. For now.

"They're dead!" Grey's exclamation interrupted his inner ramblings. The psychic was frantically pulling at his ears, torn between crying and hollowly laughing. "Shadow, Silver, and Sonic are probably splattered against the ground somewhere, and Mephy and Nummy are the same! Or…Or if Bat actually caught them then he probably snapped their _necks_ and-"

A brutal backhand to the face killed off the rest of Grey's words. He would've fallen out of the air if his chest fur wasn't harshly grabbed, poisonous green eyes boring into his.

"No one is fucking _dead,_ " Boom snarled, tightening his hold. When Grey didn't answer, still processing the fact that Boom just hit him, the speedster gave him a harsh shake. "Pull yourself together because we don't have time for any of your emotional shit. We'll find them because they aren't dead, _understand?"_

Grey slowly rubbed his throbbing cheek, and Boom's grip marginally loosened at the resulting wince. However, his glare didn't let up until he received a meek nod and a whispered, "Got it."

Grey could've easily retaliated the hit with a swift slam to the floor below, but he resisted. Despite the yelling, the anger, and overall being an overwhelming _bully_ , Boom was scared. The confidence usually in his tone was wavering, and something was swirling within those emerald irises. It was about time he learned how to care again.

There was no telling how long it would last, though.

Tails watched when Boom let Grey go, almost hesitant to speak up because he'd been the target of the blue hedgehog's attacks before. He'd rather not go through that again.

He pushed himself to ask, "So what do we do now?" A tiny part of Tails wished that he had been separated with Sonic when the other's cold gaze landed on him. "Go back for Sonic, Shadow, and Silver or try to find where Mephy and Nummy-"

"You tell me," Boom interrupted him, and Tails took a steadying breath when he came closer. Boom's frown deepened. "Do we go-" He glanced over to the door they had came through, which was now closed. "-possibly save the ones who have the skills to not be sitting ducks in this damn place, or do we go save the one who doesn't know what common sense is and the one who can't _tell_ him?"

Tails opened his mouth before closing it again.

"Thought so," Boom spat, turning away from the quiet kit. "Pick a direction."

Tails hadn't been ready for the sudden command. "Huh? I-"

"Never mind." Boom was just going to run because they didn't have any time to waste. That robot needed to become scrap metal _immediately_ before Bat could do any major damage. Penumbra – despite the rock throw – didn't deserve it, and Mephiles…

Flashes of blood and death caused Boom to grit his teeth. He glanced at the two he was stuck with, ordering, "Let's get moving, and stay _close._ Don't need any more shitty surprises."

"You can say that again," Grey sighed, dropping a hand from his reddening cheek. He'd probably have a heart attack if they lost another person. Grey looked over at Tails, who was giving the sealed door one last glimpse. "Despite what I said earlier, your Sonic's most likely fine."

Tails knew that Sonic was, but there was always a speck of worry hidden within. "Yeah…you're probably right."

Grey nodded with a reassuring smile before flying forward after Boom.

Tails was beside him, hoping that their worries were for naught.

* * *

"Are… Are you _serious?!_ "

Silver's eyes were the widest they'd ever been as they adjusted to bright sun rays. He shook his head like that would dispel whatever trance he _had_ to be in. He was seeing the plane, the sand, and the sun, but there was absolutely no _possible_ way they could be back outside.

He gently set himself down on the platform, doing the same with Sonic and Shadow. "I went in a straight line. I went through the door after the loop like last time! You guys agree with me, right? I'm not going crazy?"

Sonic was in no better condition than Silver, scratching his head as he tried to process all of this. "Definitely not goin' crazy!" At least, he hoped not, or all three of them were in hot water. He sped over to the still resting plane and knocked on its hull. Three crisp thumps only deepened his confusion. "But how can this be happening, though?"

He turned on his heel to face the pair. "Like, this _can't_ be an illusion, and neither was the inside of the pyramid! If we were caught in one, then Silver would've rammed us into things that were real but invisible to us! And I shouldn't be able to touch this!" He tapped the plane again for good measure.

"But there's no way that we can be going in circles!" Silver opposed, his mind completely failing to solve this. "Unless the whole place is _changing_ around us, we can't-"

"That's it."

"Huh?" Sonic and Silver said at once, facing Shadow. The striped hedgehog was frowning deeply at the entrance of the base they were too familiar with.

Sonic put a hand on his hip. "Don't tell me that Eggy's somehow transforming everything just to mess with the three of us. That's a little out of his budget right now, don't ya think?"

"And even if he was…" Silver bit his lip. "How'd he manage to separate us from our group?"

Shadow had no viable answer for Silver's question, for he couldn't wrap his mind around that either. As for Sonic's... "He's not physically reshaping the base, but with the emerald's help, he could possibly make us _believe_ it's changing." At the lost looks he received, Shadow explained further, "Or rather, make us think we're moving in a straight line when we're actually not."

Silver couldn't grasp the idea, but Sonic understood enough. "So…basically, he's guiding us back without us knowing."

"Essentially," Shadow said. The more they were exposed to the mysterious emerald's power, the greater the itch to get his hands on it. But that was where their problem arose.

How in the _hell_ were they going to find the gem if they kept being deposited back outside?

His question would remain unanswered – mentally or otherwise – for the sound of thrusters echoed inside of the tunnel they exited.

The three hedgehogs tensed, all eyes snapping to the mouth of the base. Shadow clenched his fists and inwardly prepared a halfhearted apology to Grey later. It seemed like he was going to be the one who dismembered Bat; that robot had to be the one meeting them out here.

Bat finally emerged, and Shadow eyed him. The robot landed right on the threshold, perfectly still. There were no grins, no snarky greetings, or mischievous gestures. Bat's stare was blank, like the rest of his features.

The change slightly caught Shadow's interest, but it wasn't enough to keep him from shooting forward.

Red opticals locked onto him, and so did those large metallic ears. Shadow wasn't going to give Bat a chance to let loose. He hastily jumped into the air before the bot could properly aim, soaring over Bat's head.

He slid into a crouch in the shade of the tunnel and sprinted at Bat's back before he had a chance to react. Shadow smashed his fist against the back of Bat's head, hurling him into the harsh sunlight.

Bat crashed to the ground with scraping metal filling the air. He slid right up to Sonic and Silver, laying there motionlessly. Sonic snickered as he stepped on the bot's head. "And I thought taking him out would be a little harder than that."

Silver nudged Bat with his foot, lips pursed. "Maybe Rosy, Red, and TT damaged him more than they told us?"

Shadow approached them, finding it suspicious that he had been handled so easily. "He looks perfectly fine," Shadow said, and his brow creased because Bat _shouldn't_ be. He seemed brand new, like Shadow was meeting him for the first time down in Aquatic Base. In contrast, Red had described him as being hastily put back together after the fight in Kingdom Valley.

There was a slim chance that this was the Bat who took the emerald, but then what…

Shadow's train of thought derailed when Sonic gasped, taking his foot off the robot when Bat began to _flicker_. They all took a quick step back, speechless as the flickering increased in frequency. A red outline encased the bot, and he faded in and out before disappearing completely.

Silver slowly placed a hand on his forehead, dumbfounded. "Was that…an _illusion?_ "

No one was able to answer him, for more boosters echoed inside of the tunnel, becoming louder and louder until it sounded like an incoming jet engine.

"Get ready!" Sonic yelled over the noise, his ears plastered against his head. He had no clue what was coming, but he was sure that it couldn't be anything good.

His gut feeling was right. Like a damn had broken, a countless number of Bat robots rushed out of the tunnel. The trio of hedgehogs pressed back-to-back with each other as the bots surrounded them at all sides, some staying in the air as others grounded themselves.

Every single one of them rotated their ears, focusing on nothing but the shocked heroes.

"You know," Silver heavily exhaled, feeling the weight of so many eyes on him. "I'm starting to really hate this place."

* * *

The darkness blanketed Mephiles as Penumbra's growls rumbled in his ears.

Mephy attempted to control his breathing as he futilely squinted through the blackness, but it was all for naught. One could only be so calm when there was a robotic arm around their neck, said robot traveling wildly like they weren't all basically blinded.

Granted, Bat probably had night vision, but that didn't ease Mephiles' anxiety.

He swallowed thickly, his hands grasping the arm for dear life as wind rustled his quills. His heart was attacking his ribcage because no matter how much he hoped, there was _no_ way the others would be able to find them. If Penumbra hadn't been targeted as well, then maybe, but as it stood, they were screwed.

Mephiles fought to still his shaking fingers, knuckles straining against the metal. He couldn't think that way. They would make it out of here, somehow. Things would _not_ end up like before. He refused to waste his second chance like this, but…he didn't exactly have a say in the matter.

Mephy's eyes snapped to the right at the sound of Penumbra struggling, most likely in the same position he was in. Mephiles couldn't see anything; however, the breathy growls and scratching of claws on metal were telling hints.

"C-C'mon, dude!" Mephiles inwardly winced at the choppy voice right next to his ear. "I-It'd be better for both of us if you'd stop struggling!"

The only reply was a guttural snarl.

"A-Alright, you're making me do this!"

The snarls suddenly cut off, and Mephy didn't know what was happening. When he heard desperate gasps of breath, it clicked that Bat was _strangling_ Penumbra right beside him.

Mephiles' heart leapt into his throat when Nummy weakly wheezed. _No! No, you can't! Stop!_ Mephy blindly reached up and frantically reached for something, _anything_ , to save him.

His hand patted against the side of Bat's face and traveled up, fingers eventually wrapping around a large ear. Mephiles frantically pulled, the action being the only thing he could do, but the appendage didn't budge.

Bat laughed. "D-Don't worry so much, man! H-He's fine, see?" Mephiles sighed in relief at the harsh intake of air from Penumbra. He was coughing, getting as much oxygen as he could. "J-Just a little warning! S-So, growler, will you listen to me now?"

When Nummy didn't say anything, Mephy lowered his arm and nudged him in the side. They were at the mercy of this robot and making him mad was a death sentence.

The touch seemed to do the trick. Penumbra coughed again and rasped, "Yes."

"A-Awesome!" Bat chirped before saying, "U-Up we go!"

Mephiles withheld a gasp when the bot curved upward, the darkness slowly but surely fading away. He barely had time to notice that they were at the far end of the same room before Bat shot through a short tunnel tucked into a wall.

Mephy cast a glance over to Nummy, finding that his eyes were glossy with wetness still clinging to dark eyelids. Mephiles simultaneously wanted to comfort him and find a way to decommission Bat for good, but he couldn't do either.

So he let himself be carried through room after room, through a few timed doors, and over countless stone platforms as his stomach twisted itself into knots.

He was burning to know where they were going, but Penumbra had remained silent, time drying the moisture from his eyes.

It wasn't until they reached a large room that looked like every other large room that Bat slowed down, his gaze searching. "Hmm…W-What door did he say it was again?"

 _He has to be talking about Eggman,_ Mephiles thought, worrying whether they would be brought to the man himself.

Penumbra must've been thinking along those lines. With quills slightly bristled, he lowly asked, "Where are us – we going?"

Bat brightened a moment later, zeroing in on something in the distance. He smirked at Nummy. "Y-You'll see real soon!" He blasted off again. Mephiles saw what he was gunning for: a standalone door near the corner of the space. There was no platform jutting from the wall, and one lone torch was lighting the barrier.

Bat headed straight for it before veering to the right, flying toward a heavily inclined ramp that aimed for the door. The end of the tilted track held an hourglass. Bat rammed into it and beelined for the door that was rapidly sliding back down.

Mephiles believed that they were going to be carried past the threshold, so it was to his surprise when the arm supporting him disappeared. Panicking, Mephy twisted to grab the robot but hurricane-force winds launched him away.

He flew near horizontally, silently crying out when his body collided with unforgiving ground. Penumbra hissed when he crashed at Mephy's side, rolling to a stop.

Mephiles sat up just in time to see Bat peering through the narrow space beneath the lowering slab of stone. The robot smiled and saluted. "Have fun!"

Mephy hadn't fully processed what happened until the door slammed shut.

But it all came crashing down when visibility decreased drastically, leaving him barely able to see Penumbra's outline. Breath hitching, Mephiles melted halfway into the ground and zipped for the sealed door.

Frantic hands searched all over its jagged surface and the surrounding frame, looking for any way to reopen it. He came up empty. Examining the bottom of the door, Mephiles knew that he could slip underneath, but he didn't have the heart to leave Penumbra here by himself.

 _Maybe… Maybe there's an hourglass somewhere?_ Mephy backed from the exit and tried to locate one. The incredibly dim lighting and the chilling haze hanging low in the air didn't help, obscuring his vision.

 _There has to be another way out,_ he reassured himself, whirling around to face Penumbra. Mephiles was going to attempt to explain this to the other, but Nummy was frozen. From the outline of his head, he was staring in the opposite direction, deeper into the room they had been tossed in.

Mephiles froze as well, following Penumbra's line of sight. He couldn't make anything out besides the shifting fog. Nummy's ears were perked, but Mephy only heard their ragged breaths in the otherwise silent room.

Feeling vulnerable, he returned to Penumbra's side in record time. His eyes darted around as dread washed over him. Pulse pounding in his ears, Mephiles tapped his friend's arm and hoped his confusion – and borderline fright – was clearly communicated in his expression.

After a fleeting glimpse, Nummy seemed to understand. He continued to stare into the unknown and responded with a faint whisper, "We not alone."

A haunting laugh that shook Mephiles to his core proved him right.

It bounced along the walls, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Mephiles chewed the inside of his cheek, searching wildly for the source, until Penumbra moved to stand in front of him.

He released a warning growl, and the laughter stopped. Mephiles knew better than to be relieved.

Especially when a pair of multi-colored eyes appeared in the distance, staring right at them.

* * *

Miles upon miles away, the shrill ring of a phone shattered the fragile peace of a college dorm.

Gadget had been so absorbed in his textbook that he nearly jumped out of his skin. The red wolf reached for his phone on the corner of his desk, ignoring the amused snort from his roommate from behind him.

He adjusted his glasses and frowned at the unknown caller ID. Gadget debated answering before deciding to go for it. It was about time for a study break anyway, and his curiosity was too high to let the call pass.

Gadget clicked answer and held the phone up to his ear, leaning back in his chair. "Uh, hello? Who is this?"

" _Hello, this is a prepaid collect call from an inmate at Emerald County Penitentiary. This call is subject to recording and monitoring. To accept charges, press one, to refuse charges, hang up."_

Gadget slowly blinked, lowering the phone and looking at it like it had just sprouted wings.

There was shifting movement on a mattress. "What's up?"

The wolf peered over his shoulder at his roommate, a hyena, who was raising an interested brow. "It's a collect call," Gadget said, still in disbelief. He shook the phone. "From Emerald Penitentiary. I don't know where that even is-"

"Answer it!" The hyena grinned, sitting up in his bed.

Gadget shot him an incredulous glance. "Are you crazy? Don't answer that," he muttered, and the other barked out a laugh. Gadget fumbled with the phone in his grip. "It costs money, and I don't want to talk to some dangerous criminal!"

Eyes rolled. "It'll cost a dollar, if that, and what if it's someone you know? Got any family members in jail?"

The wolf shook his head. "Definitely not."

"Got any shifty obscure cousins? Every family's got those."

"Just because _you_ do doesn't mean that everyone does."

A sigh. "Come _on_ , answer it! There's like no risk. The call's recorded, so I'm sure you're safe."

Gadget copied his sigh, drawing it out with a hint of exasperation. His roommate shouldn't be pushing him to do this and he shouldn't be so easily swayed, but his finger was already pressing one before he could stop it.

He lifted the phone once more and steeled himself. "Hello?"

" _You sure took your time, Wolfy."_

Gadget gasped, feeling like he'd been dunked in freezing water. He snapped straight in his chair, lungs constricting as if an elephant had stomped on his chest.

In the corner of his eye, the hyena was frowning, so he knew that his trembling wasn't subtle at all.

Gadget desired to hang up then and there, to get away from that voice _._ But he didn't dare to, now that…now that the other was in _jail._

The wolf should feel relief that he was finally caught, gone for good. Anyone would be happy about the incarceration of a cold-hearted murderer. Gadget was different; he felt nothing but unadulterated fear.

Not for the prisoner, but for himself.

" _Oh, you're still sick, huh? I don't want you to strain your voice, so just listen."_

Gadget obeyed, gulping. He felt concerned eyes on him, but he disregarded them for both of their sakes.

" _First off, look, you weren't supposed to find out about this. You know that I'm not a bad guy. I know the news is probably spoutin' bullshit that makes me a complete monster, but I need to set things straight. Face-to-face."_

Gadget bit down on his lip, knowing that the other was acting for the recorder. His voice was never this calm.

" _So, you can visit today or tomorrow, right? The sooner the better. Some people might check up on you if you take too long because that sickness doesn't seem to be going away."_

The wolf shakily exhaled, a hint of a whimper leaking into it.

" _Yeah, it's definitely not gettin' any better. But anyway, I should go because there's a line behind me. Don't forget to take your meds. See you."_

The prisoner hung up, and Gadget slammed the phone on the desk, holding his head in his hands.

"The hell's wrong with you, G? Who was on the phone?"

The personification of sadism in a jackal's skin.

The devil that he should've never made a deal with.

"Family," Gadget murmured instead, fighting to keep his voice steady. "Crazy cousins are more common than I thought."

* * *

 **I hope y'all didn't think that Infinite had been gone for good ;)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **Hey…better late than never, right? Enjoy!**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 12- Light show**

"What in the hell is _that?_ "

Boom's voice was a mere whisper, but the amount of shock present was as clear as day.

After traversing part of the immense pyramid without any hints as to where Mephiles, Shadow, _or_ Eggman could be, Boom's irritation and impatience had been steadily increasing with every step they took. He had been one empty room away from taking his anger out on one of the tagalongs behind him when he turned a corner and froze in place.

He was looking down a dimly lit corridor, which was surrounded on all sides by cracked and crumbling stone. At the far end was a sealed door along with an hourglass sitting pretty right beside it. Boom's attention wasn't on the exit, for his eyes couldn't stray from the ghost floating in the middle of the hallway.

And it was staring back.

Boom did _not_ startle when trembling hands clamped down on his shoulders. He glared hard over his shoulder at Grey, who was hiding behind him, and growled, "Get _off_ me."

"I'd rather get punched by you than get killed by that th- _thing,_ " the psychic frantically whispered, eyes blown wide. "It's probably going to eat my s-soul in the most agonizing way possible."

Peeking around the two frozen hedgehogs, Tails let out a relieved breath. He stepped farther into the corridor, giving the 'hogs a reassuring look. "We don't have to worry about this guy. It won't attack us."

Grey wanted to believe him, but those soulless eyes and stitched mouth were very off-putting. "H-How do you know?"

"Because of how it looks!" Tails glanced over to the ghost to see it staring at him now. He would be lying if its presence didn't make him somewhat nervous. "Its dark eyes and closed mouth mean that it's a regular boo, one who's more curious than anything. The boos we have to be careful of have colorful eyes and sharp teeth. Those are the ones that attack."

Grey's fingers tensed as he gulped. "So there are _m-more_ of them? That's just perfect!"

Boom roughly shrugged the psychic off of him, aiming his heated glare at the kit now. He stomped over to Tails, hissing, "And why the hell didn't you mention those things before, huh? Were you waiting for a sneak attack before sharing the damn news?"

"No!" Tails shook his head, holding his hands up innocently. Boom already had been easy to provoke, and their current situation was making him – everyone – more on edge. "I just didn't think there would be any still here! Knuckles had fought their king a while back, and-"

"They have a fucking _king?_ " Boom couldn't believe this. First Eggman, then that stupid illusion, and now irritating ghosts. He clenched his fists. "You _better_ tell me that dreadlocked jackass sent it back wherever the hell it came from."

Tails hesitated, not having a definite answer to that. "Um…there's a slim chance that he might still be here if those are…" he reluctantly admitted, gesturing at the boo slowly floating over to a petrified Grey.

"Okay Mr. _Probability_ , what's the chance of that shitty robot taking Penumbra and Mephiles to see this so-called _king?_ " Boom borderline snarled.

Tails didn't need to respond. If King Boom Boo was still here, then it was likely that one of their friends might be going up against him. Tails hoped with everything he had that it was Sonic's group.

Boom narrowed his eyes before barking out, "We're wasting time." He stepped away from Tails, who could breathe easier, before regarding Grey. "Let's go, psycho."

"I can't!" The white hedgehog was stiff, looking down at the ghost right in front of him. "Are you _sure_ that it won't devour my soul, Tails?"

Boom scowled. "Use your damn powers to toss the thing away before I-"

"Watch out!"

Tails pointed over his shoulder, and Boom whirled around only to find another ghost charging right at him. He processed the frenzied red and yellow eyes and razor-sharp teeth in time to raise an arm to block, but the boo wasn't deterred in the slightest.

Boom cried out when those teeth sunk into his skin before he managed to punch the enemy away with his other fist. The boo propelled backwards, flipping in the air until it righted itself and charged once more.

The speedster was ready this time, ignoring how streams of blood slithered down his arm. It was for naught; the ghost froze midair and was smashed against the ground repeatedly. After the fourth time, the boo dissipated in a puff of smoke.

Boom cut his eyes over at Grey, huffing. "I didn't need any help!"

The psychic rolled his eyes as he lowered his hand. "What you were _supposed_ to say was 'thank you', jerk." Grey then mentally grabbed the regular boo from before, giving it the same treatment until it faded out of existence.

"At least you're out of your bitch phase," Boom coldly jeered, withholding a flinch when he accidentally grazed the bite mark on his arm.

"Well, I'm more pissed than scared right now, so..." When Grey's attention drifted over to another sharp-toothed ghost emerging from the wall, Boom gave the psychic a pointed look.

"This one's _mine_ ," he declared before rushing the enemy, punching it square in the face before it could do any damage. In retrospect, Boom shouldn't have used his injured arm – the impact causing shocks of paint to course up and down it – but it was too late now. The ghost disintegrated, nothing but a memory.

Hearing a grunt behind him, Boom turned to see Tails kicking another crazed boo into the wall, getting rid of another obstacle. At least the kid wasn't dead weight he had to carry around this damn place.

After checking for any more ghosts – they were in the clear for now – Tails focused on Boom's injury. The bite marks looked shallow, but the amount of blood coming from them was a little concerning. If only they had brought a first-aid kit or something…

Boom obviously wasn't fond of his blatant concern. "Worry about yourself. I'm fine _."_

"That doesn't look fine," Grey pointed out, approaching the speedster. "Let me see-"

"If you come _any_ closer, I'll give you another bruise that matches the one on your face."

"Okay, first, I _let_ you get that slap in scot-free, and second, why are you constantly like this? Can't you be a normal person for a _second?_ "

"That's funny, coming from you."

Grey threw his arms up in exasperation, snapping, "At least I know how to show my emotions! Someone has to be on death's _door_ in order for you to show an ounce of care!"

Boom glowered, but the psychic was getting riled up and was unable to stop himself. "And only then! Because I'd bet _everything_ that when this is over, you'll stop giving a damn like you always do!"

Boom bared his teeth, quills bristling. "Say _one_ more fucking word, and I'll-"

"And you'll do _what?_ No one is scared of you anymore!"

Tails had to stop this before the argument escalated into something physical. "Hey, guys?" Two angered gazes landed on him, and he looked around before suggesting, "I think we should keep moving so the boos won't catch us by surprise again…"

The hedgehogs went back to staring each other down, tension crackling. Just when Tails thought punches would be thrown anyway, Boom clicked his tongue in irritation. Without saying anything, he scowled and ran for the door at the end of the hall.

Tails whirled up his namesakes to follow, looking at the vexed psychic beside him. "Just…" he started quietly. "Try to not antagonize him too much while we're in here."

Grey stuttered in the air, affronted. "Me… antagonize _him?!_ "

"I know, I know, but-" Tails ducked under the lowering door, watching Boom sprint down a rugged path in front of them. "This is already a stressful situation and we really shouldn't try to make it worse."

"Shouldn't you be telling _him_ that?"

"Do you really think he'd listen to me?"

Grey's argument ended there. "Touché." He sighed, frown deepening. "Fine, I'll _try_ , but no promises though."

Tails smiled. It was something, at least.

* * *

Mephiles felt like he couldn't breathe.

A violent chill ran down his back once he focused on the multi-colored eyes in the distance, them somehow piercing through the shifting haze in the room. They were colored like rainbows, but there was nothing joyous about them. All Mephy felt was _fear._

This couldn't be a robot. Those eyes felt too alive, and Mephiles had never felt this way fighting a mech. Even against Metal, he hadn't felt so… so…

He was startled out of his thoughts when another eerie laugh bounced off the walls, causing his quills to bristle. Penumbra was as tense as he was, ears alert and gaze unwavering.

Mephy sucked in a harsh breath when the eyes drifted closer, and any space between Mephiles and Penumbra was completely gone at this point. He knew that he shouldn't be this scared. It was just that he'd come back from the dead _today_ and he had no idea what they were trapped in this room with and was… was that a _ghost?_

The eyes were close enough now that he could see what they were attached to. A white body emerged from the haze along with two hands equipped with claws. It had no legs. The being resembled any generic ghost shown on TV, but the sinister grin showing off rows of razor-sharp teeth proved that it was anything but.

Penumbra was growling now and crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce. The ghost only grinned wider, looking down at them as it steadily yet silently approached.

Mephiles didn't want to know what it would do once it reached them.

He grabbed Penumbra's arm with shaky fingers and tugged in the opposite direction of the incoming horror. They needed to find a way out of here _now_.

Nummy didn't respond to him at first, and it was only when his tugging grew more persistent that Penumbra finally glanced at him. Mephiles' expression must've said exactly what he thought of this situation. He shook his head. "No, we have to fight." There was an attempt of a smile. "Done before."

Mephy stood there for a moment, dumbfounded, because they had never taken on anything like this. He wished that someone else had been there as well to tell him that, but as it was…

Another laugh snapped Mephiles' attention back forward, and his throat constricted at the sight of the empty space where the ghost _should_ have been.

Eyes blown wide, Mephy scanned as much of the room as he could for the ghost, and Nummy's ears rotated around, listening intensely. There was an overbearing silence now. It was too quiet; Mephiles' pulse was pounding in his ears.

The smothering hush was shattered when Penumbra abruptly yelled, "Move!" However, it was too late for the both of them.

Mephiles' mouth fell open in a silent yell when an unforgivable force slammed into him, his body careening through the air like a ragdoll. Pain blossomed from his right side, nearly the same place where Bat had blasted him with air.

He barely had enough time to recover from the hit before having to melt into the quickly approaching ground. That was one benefit of this room being nearly shrouded in darkness; or rather, the _only_ benefit.

Mephiles halfway emerged from the stone, struggling to control his breathing as he futilely searched through the haze for Penumbra. It was too thick. He stopped relying on his vision and perked his ears, desperately waiting for any hint as to Nummy's location.

"Mephiles!" Mephy snapped his head to the right, relief mixing with the fear and panic. Penumbra's voice wasn't too far away. "Where are-" Mephiles gasped when the other's words were replaced with an abrupt yelp followed by threatening growls.

Heartrate skyrocketing, he slid across the ground as quickly as he could because he didn't know what was happening, and he just... hadn't been ready for this.

Why did he think that things would go off without a hitch? Why did he think that just because he had played the part of a fearless hero _once_ that he was ready for anything life threw at him? Now Penumbra was probably hurt, and he had _no_ idea how to help-

All thoughts came to a screeching halt when he saw a ball of blue fire flying right at him.

Mephiles pumped the brakes and backpedaled to avoid the crackling flames. Glowing sparks spread out from the impact; Mephy winced when some stuck to his cheek, hastily wiping away the searing particles.

The blue blaze was an arm's length away, the intense heat coating Mephy's front and mentally shoving him back to when he was _engulfed_ in it. Fur, muscles, and skin were stripped away in a fraction of a second; his body _burned._

Mephiles clenched his chest with a trembling hand, his breathing erratic as he experienced his death over and _over_ again. The explosion, the flames, and scorching heat…

Coming here was a mistake.

Mephy's breath was nearly knocked out of him when a body collided with his. He hissed in pain when he crashed to the ground, too out-of-it to melt. Mephiles blinked out of his trance, panting, to see another fireball searing the spot he had been standing in.

"Are you okay?"

Mephy snapped his attention to the striped hedgehog crouching over him, able to see the worry because of the blue light casting a glow on everything nearby. Mephiles didn't automatically answer Penumbra. He exhaled deeply to regain some control over his body. His trembling waned, and his heart stopped hammering against his chest.

He wasn't in the lab. He was _alive_ and fighting to keep it that way.

When Nummy peered closer at him, frown deepening, Mephiles finally nodded. He peeled himself off the ground with a silent groan, and he stiffened when a snarl pierced the dead air.

Penumbra was glaring above the flames as the giant ghost faded into view. The blue light flickering in those rainbow eyes and glinting off the numerous sharp teeth made the ghost all the more sinister.

Nummy cautiously shifted onto all fours as two more ghosts appeared at the big one's side. They weren't as massive, but the crazed looks and wicked smiles they sported made up for it.

"Get in shadow," Penumbra lowly commanded. Mephiles didn't think twice about doing so, completely submerging into his friend's shade. He wouldn't have to worry about any more unexpected hits like this, but the fire would still be a problem.

Nummy adjusted, getting ready to read the ghosts' next move, and the light caught one of his legs in a way that Mephiles could see a set of bite marks leaking blood. Before concern truly sunk in, the big ghost faded away over the waning fires while the smaller two charged forward.

Penumbra pounced immediately. He leapt through the air and met one of the ghosts halfway, wildly slashing its face. It was launched backwards with a garbled cry. Nummy didn't let it get far; he curled into a ball upon landing and shot completely through the ghost, it dissipating in a hazy puff.

Mephiles inwardly cheered as Penumbra slid to a stop, claws scraping against rough stone. Nummy didn't pause to celebrate. Instead, he quickly switched targets to the second ghost, which was near invisible to Mephy as the fires put themselves out.

At least Penumbra was perfect for this kind of fight. Anyone else would've had a rough time attacking in the dark.

Nummy sprinted forward and jumped high again, ready to devastate, but he didn't get a chance to. Mephiles watched in horror as the massive ghost reappeared in front of Penumbra with its mouth agape. Nummy had been going too fast to yank his outstretched arm away from the shearing teeth.

The resulting agonized scream churned Mephiles' insides.

He helplessly watched as Penumbra dangled from the smiling mouth, blood streaming down his right arm. Whimpering cries filled the room as he wriggled around in an attempt to escape.

The ghostly grin grew, and Nummy was effortlessly flung in a random direction.

Mephy halfway emerged from the ground and held out his arms right as Penumbra collided with him. He gasped at the impact, and they roughly rolled over each other before coming to a stop.

Darkness had smothered them again, and Mephy breathlessly groaned as he sat up. He didn't regret cushioning the fall because that was the only thing he _could_ do in this terrible situation.

Hearing shifting beside him, Mephiles squinted and was barely able to see Penumbra holding his arm close to his body. He couldn't see his expression, but the soft whines painted a very clear picture.

Mephy reached out to comfort, to reassure, to do _something_ , but his wrist was tightly grabbed. He was suddenly tossed to the side. Soundlessly yelping, Mephiles rolled a couple times on the stone and snapped his head up to feel the heat of chaotic blue flames. Penumbra had saved him _again._

Said hedgehog was slowly backing away from the pyre, giving Mephiles a quick glance. His eyes were glossier than normal. "I-In shadow," he said again. Mephiles complied, cringing at the other's mangled arm. Skin was severely shredded, revealing torn and bloody muscle.

He couldn't examine the wound for long; another fireball was launched their way. Penumbra took off in the other direction, his speed taking a massive hit from his injury.

Nummy sidestepped more flames deposited in his path only to almost be hit with a second fiery bomb. With a sharp growl, he turned to the right to avoid the heat.

The temperature rose as more and more fireballs rained down on them, crackling dangerously. Penumbra weaved back and forth as much as he could, singeing quills along the way.

Mephiles didn't know where they were going or how big this room was, but he didn't care as long as they got away from the monster haunting them in one piece.

He was confident that Nummy shared the same thoughts, so he was thrown for a loop when Penumbra skidded to a stop without any warning.

Nummy stared into the haze and hissed, "Corner." Mephiles took that as 'dead-end', and they needed to get away from this place _right now._

As soon as Penumbra turned, the smaller ghost came out of nowhere and rammed him in the head, snapping it to the side. He stumbled, but he regained his balance in time to hop backwards away from a rocketed fireball.

He attempted to go around the heat, but a second one stopped him in his tracks… then a third, a forth, and a fifth. They kept coming, getting ever so closer and pushing a frightened Penumbra back.

Mephiles stared in disbelief, shock, and terror at the wall of raging fire before them, blocking any means of escape. Then, when he thought that things couldn't get any worse, _dozens_ of the smaller ghosts floated through the flames with sadistic grins.

Penumbra snarled, but it was weaker as he quickened his steps backwards. He gasped when his back hit a wall.

The familiar crazed laugh boomed, and Mephiles swallowed thickly when the massive ghost appeared amidst the smaller ones. It smiled broadly as it floated closer.

Despite the fear running through his veins, Mephiles fully emerged from the ground to put himself between the ghost and Penumbra.

"N-No!" Nummy's voice was less demanding now, pleading, "Get back in shadow! Don't want you hurt!"

Mephy shook his head because it was _his_ turn to do something. He couldn't stand to see Penumbra injured, and… maybe they could get out of this.

After taking a deep breath that did nothing to steady his nerves, Mephiles looked at his own trembling hand and focused as much as he could. He needed the power he had discovered to help them somehow.

 _But… how did I activate it the first time?_

Back then, he had felt energy in his palm; but now it was blank, empty. The trembling in his hand increased as the ghost floated closer, showing off its bloodied teeth.

 _Come on, come on! Why isn't it working?_

"Mephiles?" Penumbra's distressed whisper caused him to work harder. They needed to get out of here, to get _help._

 _Please, just… please!_

His hand wasn't listening to him, and the ghost laughed once more like it was enjoying his failure. The other ghosts joined in, the garbled noise shattering his concentration.

 _We…We can't die here! Nummy doesn't deserve this, and I… I am-_

 _ **Pathetic.**_

Then Mephiles saw nothing but light.

* * *

Shadow glared at all of the robots surrounding him, wanting to separate Eggman from the mysterious emerald as soon as possible. He was growing tired of these damn mind games.

"They should go down easily," Shadow told the ones behind him, going off the fact that the illusion from earlier disappeared in one hit.

"It's not their defense I'm worried about…" Silver muttered with a frown. "If we can touch them, does that mean they can attack us?"

Sonic clenched his fists, shifted his weight, and smirked. "Well, let's not give them the chance!" He jumped into the air and spin dashed the nearest Bat-bot, making it fade away above the rocky platform.

The robots beside him took their time in reacting, being slammed into by a bundle of blue quills the next second. A couple palms were aimed in Sonic's direction, and Silver took care of the threats by mentally grabbing and smashing them into their robotic brethren. Another five disappeared from sight.

Shadow furrowed his brow, keenly observing. These illusions were physically real, but there seemed to be a delay in response to anything. The first Bat-bot hadn't reacted at all, and now…

The striped hedgehog noticed ears perking in his periphery. Shadow dashed over and punched the robot in the face, kicking three of its neighbors in their torsos afterwards. Shadow then curled up and slammed into three more slow-moving bots. He landed at the edge of the platform, watching the bodies fade away over the shifting sands below.

"Watch your back, Shads!"

Shadow whirled around at Sonic's words only to find a hand shoved into his face. It would've been a minor threat if the Bat-bot hadn't been surrounded by a cyan aura.

Silver nodded at him. "I gotcha!" The offending bot was then hurled at two more off to the side.

Sonic snickered after beheading one of the illusions. "Gettin' sloppy over there, Shadow?"

"If _sloppy_ means figuring out what the hell is going on, then yes," he bit back, swallowing a groan when a weak bout of dizziness hit him. Shadow searched around and found the culprit immediately. He worked through the unsteadiness to charge and rip those ears clean off, kicking the robot for good measure.

The ears flickered away after a moment, and Silver spoke from behind him over the noise of clanking metal and flying sparks, "Those vibrations aren't as strong as the ones Bat can make." Shadow looked over to see him crushing a Bat-bot with the curl of his fingers. Silver glanced from Sonic to Shadow. "Is it because these aren't the real thing? Off-brand copies?"

"Yeah, probably." Sonic brought a heel down onto a face laying at his feet. He sprung up to avoid a blast of air from his left and stomped down on the head of the one who sent it. "Because Bat's attacks are no joke. Rosy, TT, and Red wouldn't have lost if they fought one of these dollar knock-offs."

Shadow hummed as he roundhouse kicked a bot who had gotten too close. This was interesting. He believed – hoped – that this was proof that the emerald had limits. Intangible illusions were seemingly fine, but tangible ones took more energy and were less reliable.

Number could be a factor, but considering the dwindling amount of robots and the lack of endurance buffs, that wasn't the case.

Shadow hissed when he was blasted with air, causing his side to sting. Growling, he zoomed over and sent his fist right through the Bat-bot's chest.

"What did I tell ya about being sloppy?"

"Shut _up_ , Faker. This isn't the time for-" Shadow cut himself off when, yet again, thundering boosters echoed in the entrance of the pyramid. The hedgehogs stilled to listen, and Silver crushed the last remaining robots.

"More?" Silver asked, shocked. "Don't tell me that there's an endless supply or something!"

"Don't get your hopes up…" Sonic said as a second wave of Bat-bots flooded the area, quickly replacing the ones there before.

When the robots circled around them, Shadow's jaw clenched. They didn't have time for this. The rest of their group was still missing, and who knew what was going on in that pyramid.

He eyed the newcomers, mind whirling. The emerald was doing this by influencing their minds, or something similar. They were within its range of influence. That meant that there was a set distance beyond its grasp.

At least, that was his guess. If it was true, then they would be able to think about their situation without fighting these irritants at the same time.

"Silver," Shadow called out, punching a nearby bot and side-stepping a high kick. When the psychic looked at him, hints of frustration on his face, he continued, "Fly out as far as you can to test out if you'll still be affected."

Silver slammed three mechs against the ground, gaze questioning. "Be affected?" He perked up once he understood. "By the emerald! That's a good idea! Then we won't have to deal with this mess right now." He got ready to blast off. "Just don't get sloppy while I'm gone."

Sonic barked out a laugh while Shadow sent him a death glare.

Silver took a deep breath once he escaped the bot brawl, propelling himself away from the pyramid. He hoped that Shadow was on to something here, for they didn't need this on top of the mystery pyramid maze problem.

He peeked backwards and wasn't surprised to see a handful of Bat-bots flying after him. Silver's attention drifted back to the platforms down below. Sonic and Shadow were taking care of themselves just fine without him, taking down the mechs with practiced ease.

Silver was about to face forward again, but the robots on his tail suddenly stopped mid-air. He slowed down and rose a curious brow. They were still staring at him; however, they refused to move another inch forward.

After a few seconds, the group forgot all about him and flew back to Sonic and Shadow. Silver tapped his chin pensively before slowly floating forward. He did so until those same robots turned back around, aiming for him once more.

He floated backwards. They stopped. One, two, three seconds ticked by, and they were leaving again.

So, Shadow had been kinda right. But instead of disappearing like Silver thought they would, the robots just stopped caring. Maybe they couldn't go past that point? That had to be it. He would take that over nothing.

Silver darted back over to his friends, destroying the wishy-washy robots in the process.

Sonic noticed the psychic making his way back over, and he assumed it was with good news because he didn't fly too far away from them.

After taking off a mechanic leg, he loudly asked, "Was Shads right, Silver?"

"Yeah!" he answered, swooping down and slamming robots into each other. "The bots don't disappear, but they stopped following after a certain point! The emerald does have some kind of range!"

"Really? Awesome! Something's goin' our way for once!" Thinking on his feet, Sonic zipped over to the plane at the far edge of the craggy platform. "Keep them away while I crank this bad boy up!"

Silver thrust out a shield that held the robots at bay while the engine rumbled. Shadow gave the speedster a skeptical glance. "Can you even fly that thing?"

"Of course I can!" Sonic chirped as he prepped for flight. "The Tornado was mine before Tails went to town on it. And this old plane doesn't seem too fancy, so yeah!"

Shadow narrowed his eyes. Silver understood his hesitation. "Uh… I'll be plan B if we need it."

Sonic shook his head and tsked. "No faith! I'm insulted."

"It's for good reason, Faker," Shadow said as he hopped into the seat behind Sonic. The pilot simply chuckled at that, grinning when the plane successfully began to roll. The platform was just big enough to pick up the necessary speed to get them airborne.

Silver waited for a bit before lowering the barrier and flying after the aircraft. The plane hadn't been going top speed, so he caught up with it in no time, settling on the wing to give his mind some rest.

"Gotta go a little farther out," he said to Sonic as he kept a keen eye on the bots.

"Roger that!" Sonic flipped a couple notches on the dashboard, observant of the dials. The speed steadily increased.

It wasn't long before the Bat-bots halted as planned.

Shadow frowned at this. He didn't think that Silver had lied, but it was another thing to experience it first-hand. "Since they're still there, then they couldn't be caused by the manipulation of our minds. They have to be real, to an extent."

Silver didn't know how he felt about the news. "So the emerald is spitting out _actual_ clones?"

"Dollar knock-offs," Sonic reminded, gently curving the plane so that it flew along the perimeter of the supposed threshold. "But I get what you're sayin', though. Fighting a lot of those things at once could become a problem."

The Bat-bots never took their eyes off them. Silver shook off the eerie feeling. "Yeah… like for the others inside." In a group, they would be fine, but what if they had split up for some reason? He eyed the towering pyramid. "We _need_ to get in there."

"You're tellin' me…" Sonic pursed his lips. He studied the base's sloped walls and asked, "You guys think we could throw the emerald for a loop if we blasted a hole in the side and went from there?"

"The gem had been a Chaos emerald, Faker. I doubt anything could trick it." Shadow shut that idea down. Making their own entrance could still end up with them being turned around with those Bat clones waiting for them.

Sonic would've thrown his hands in the air if they had been free. "Then what else can we do? We don't really have a lot of options here, and it doesn't sit right that our friends are in there fending for themselves."

Shadow didn't get to reply to him. A massive blast startled the trio of hedgehogs, and they whipped their heads in time to catch a thick white beam of light cutting through the air, reaching for the sky. It only lasted a moment, but it had been enough to leave behind a gaping hole in the pyramid, stone and dust raining down all around.

Silver's eyes were blown wide. "What in the world was that?"

"Our way in!" Sonic steered the plane toward the hole, which was more than wide enough for their ride to fit. They needed to investigate that beam _pronto_ because none of their friends could do anything like that. Eggman had to be on the move.

Silver blinked at him. "Huh? But what about the…" He looked back at where the Bat-bots were; or at least where they were _supposed_ to be. "Wait, they're gone!"

Shadow tried and could not find a single one of them. Just another piece to this confusing puzzle. "We'll deal with them later if need be." The origin of the beam was at the top of his priority list. If it had been Eggman, then something or some _one_ had to have triggered the attack.

"And hopefully the emerald will be nice to us so we don't go in circles…" Silver murmured, bracing himself for what was to come.

Because there was a chance that the emerald could still mess with them, Shadow suggested, "Faker, you stay out here with the plane while Silver and I go in."

"What?" Sonic was fully against that. "Why?"

"So we have _someone_ on the outside who won't be affected by whatever trick the emerald pulls out next."

"But-"

"This isn't an argument."

Sonic huffed. "Fine! But you better not get into any trouble in there!"

Shadow just grunted, and Silver mimicked Sonic from earlier, shaking his head. "No faith? Some friend you are." After the speedster rolled his eyes, Silver used his powers to fly Shadow and himself closer to the hole. Sonic veered off, returning back to the perimeter.

At the wall now, Silver stifled his coughs and peered into the base. Sunlight now filtered into a vacant room, its rays being scattered by the debris in the air.

He didn't hear or see any enemies within, but his attention was grabbed by the jagged hole in the stone floor, undoubtedly caused by the beam.

Silver glanced over at Shadow, and they nodded to each other. The psychic flew them diagonally through the room and down the second hole, shallowly coughing.

The next room was nothing more than a ruined hallway at this point. Chunks of stone were strewn all over the place, lit torches littered the ground, and the air quality became worse.

Silver waved the dust out of his face, coughing again, and attempted to count how many floors the beam had gone through. It wasn't too many; he saw at the very end that there was a room without a hole. The streaming sunlight lit up the ground down there.

The was no sign of Eggman anywhere, though, and it was a little too quiet.

"Should we call out, or…?" Silver started, unsure.

"No. We don't know who or what-" Shadow cut himself off because there was movement far down below. A dark figure was stepping into the light, raising a hand to shield from the sun.

When the figure began to wave, Silver gasped. "Is that… that's Penumbra!" He rushed deeper into the pyramid, dragging Shadow along with him until they were face-to-face with Nummy.

They weren't prepared for what they saw.

Shadow, now freed from Silver's hold, examined Penumbra in muted shock. His eyes immediately zeroed in on his mangled arm. Torn muscle was exposed and his fur was matted with blood. His leg had similar injuries, but it was in much better condition. Aside from the blatant wounds, Shadow saw the black splatters on his arms that contrasted the red, wondering what the hell _that_ was.

Silver was gaping. "Penumbra, what _happened?_ "

Despite being in their presence, Nummy didn't look relieved at all. "A lot, but no questions!" He pointed to the side with his good arm. "Help Mephiles!"

"Mephiles?" Silver, along with Shadow, followed his finger and promptly stiffened.

Mephy was marginally illuminated by the light, tucked into the shade. He was laying on his side, his whole body trembling like he'd been abandoned in a freezer. A black liquid dribbled from his mouth and splashed the ground every time he coughed.

When a trembling hand reached for them, Silver snapped out of his daze. He carefully wrapped Mephiles up in his powers and floated him over. More of the black liquid stained the ground; Silver hated what it reminded him of.

Shadow shared his same thoughts. He gave Mephy a once-over, addressing Nummy, "Penumbra, tell me _exactly_ what happened. Now."

His demanding tone gained him a confused look from his twin, but Nummy complied anyway. "We lose friends and was stuck here." He held his injured arm close and quietly whined. "Fight big white ball with teeth and smaller ones too. Got hurt a lot." Penumbra frowned at Mephiles, concern swirling in his eyes. "Mephiles use light to kill them…"

"Whoa, whoa… _Mephiles_ caused that beam?!" Silver nearly yelled, Nummy nodding at him. It was a little harder for Silver to breathe when he faced Shadow. "Didn't Sonic get hit by-"

"Yes," Shadow's response was terse. He looked at Mephy, and glazed reptilian eyes looked right back until a coughing fit wracked the other's system. Globs of blackness puddled on the ground.

Shadow and Silver went silent, causing Penumbra to speak up. "Can we leave?"

"Uh…" Silver swallowed, managing a smile. "Uh, yeah. Sonic's waiting for us outside." Nummy smiled, and Silver blasted all four of them through the many floors and back out into the dry desert air.

* * *

Eggman couldn't help but to think that he might have the winning ticket here.

A victorious grin nearly split his face in half when those rodents resorted to fleeing. Eggman gleefully watched the large screen in front of him, which showed the feedback of the many cameras placed around the base. Some of the squares were filled with static from damage over time, but he had more than enough to document this success.

It didn't surprise him that the trio of hedgehogs had discovered the emerald's range – it was something for him to note – but doing so did not put them at an advantage. Any attempt to find the amazing gem would be for naught.

Creating perfect illusions, manifesting limitless copies, the emerald had it _all._

That didn't mean there weren't places to test and improve upon. For example, expanding the range was a must, and while Eggman approved of the horde of copies, them going down in one hit wasn't good enough. He needed _perfect_ physical clones.

He was sure that he could achieve that in due time.

Once the annoyances left, of course. And they would because it was near impossible for them to get past this security system.

Eggman hummed as he switched his gaze from one blue rodent to another. Sonic's double and his posse were making their way through the pyramid, but they were nowhere close to the room the doctor claimed as his new office. If they got too close for his liking, the emerald would turn them back around, simple as that.

Eggman laughed loudly, too giddy about the discovery of his new toy to care. He had a chance now. He had a chance to beat that blue hedgehog once and for all by _himself._

"U-Uh… Do you always randomly laugh like that?"

Eggman cut his eyes to the robot standing beside him, not appreciative of the teasing grin sent his way. "Hush, you." His smirk returned as he held up the magenta emerald shining brightly in his palm. "I only do that when victory is in sight! I will find out every secret this emerald has to offer, and then Sonic and his friends are going to suffer!"

"Y-You're really passionate about this, man!" Bat pointed to the screen with a blue hedgehog flying a plane. "T-That's the Sonic you mean, right? H-He must've messed up your life _real_ bad to do this stuff! W-Why didn't you want me to take him to the ghost guy?"

"I have my reasons," Eggman answered, his happiness pushed aside for a moment at that reminder. He had initially only wanted Penumbra to face King Boom Boo because of his meddlesome abilities, but the reappearance of Mephiles had puzzled him.

He was supposed to be dead, killed from the trap the traitorous chameleon had set up. The reptile and the rodents all acted like he had been dead, so why was he _here?_

Eggman wouldn't have cared this much if Mephiles didn't pose a major threat.

He didn't expect the ghost to kill those two, no. Eggman simply wanted the duo injured enough to be rendered useless and to be a good incentive for the heroes to leave the base.

Eggman pensively tapped the emerald in his hand, thinking of the possible ways Sonic had somehow managed to revive Mephiles. He had witnessed one way a while back, but that surely didn't-

He was thrown out of his thoughts when the magenta emerald vibrated violently in his hands. Eggman sucked in a harsh breath when the air around the gem glitched.

Bat peered closer at it, tilting his head. "W-Why is it freaking out?"

"Do you think _I_ know?" Eggman snapped. His shock then escalated when a booming blast sounded from somewhere up above, causing some loose rocks to rain down on them. "Now _what_ is going on up-"

Eggman's hand suddenly felt empty.

Bat blinked at the man's bare palm. "T-That's major bad luck, dude."

Eggman ignored him completely, quickly studying the screens for the emerald that seemed to have a blasted mind of its _own._ It wasn't hard to find, bouncing from room to room every five seconds.

It was only a matter of time until-

"I-It's in the same room as them, boss. U-Uh-oh, they got it and… and they're gone. T-That's really wild, man."

Eggman resisted the urge to dismantle.

* * *

Grey nearly jumped out of his skin when a rumble thundered in the distance. He whipped his head to the left, gawking at a stone wall. "We're gonna die, aren't we? We're seriously gonna die this time."

Boom glared at him. "Don't you ever _shut up?_ " His bark echoed around the small room they were in. The blue hedgehog backed away from the ledge he was about to jump up to, the door above their heads momentarily forgotten.

Boom listened for any more blasts, but there were none. "We need to go in that direction. Some bullshit's happening over there." It was the only hint they had that they weren't alone in this stupid base.

"Maybe the next room will have a path that goes in that direction!" Tails suggested, about to fly onto the ledge, but he paused. After eyeing Boom's wound, he hesitantly asked, "Do you want any help getting up? Since-"

"Fuck off," Boom dismissed him, and Grey deadpanned at Tails.

The kit meekly shrugged. At least he could say that he tried.

Tails whirled his namesakes to take off, but something in his periphery made him turn. He gasped at the magenta jewel laying _right there_ on the ground. "Guys, look! Look!"

"Huh?" Boom craned his neck to see, narrowing his eyes. That _couldn't_ be the real thing. "It's a damn trap, isn't it? An illusion?"

Grey mentally picked the gem up and pulled it to him. When Boom and Tails moved closer, all of them now soaked in a magenta glow, Grey couldn't help but to smile at their luck. "Well, it's safe to say that it's-" His voice was reduced to a squeak when their surroundings changed. They were in a completely different room standing on top of a loop-de-loop. "-real."

"The hell?!" Boom quickly slid away from the edge he was too close to.

"It's definitely real alright…" Tails was dumbfounded, reaching for the glitching emerald. "No fake would be able to do this!" Before he got to touch it, their surroundings changed again. They didn't have enough time to process the new room before they were teleported _again._ They were met with the sun's blinding rays.

The second that Grey realized that they were now _outside_ , a frantic shout filled the air. He glanced down, noting how far up he was off the ground and how Boom was currently freefalling to the sands below.

The psychic busied himself with trying to figure out where they were, acting like he hadn't seen. The pyramid was a bit of a distance away, but the entrance tunnel to the base was straight ahead. Despite what the emerald had done, he was thankful that it had made leaving the place so much easier.

Tails was lifting Boom back up to his altitude at this point, and Grey ignored the speedster's furious glower. "So, we got the emerald…" He flipped said gem in the air. Apparently, it was done with the random teleporting. "What now?"

"I know what _I'm_ going to do as soon as we hit solid ground," Boom threatened with a snarl.

Tails had to defuse the situation again. He quickly answered Grey's question. "We gotta try to find everyone else…" He zeroed in on the rocky platform connected to the entrance and saw that his plane was missing. Either one of their friends was flying it, or, worst case scenario, it had been destroyed by Bat or Eggman.

"Hey, look over there!" Grey pointed to their right at something in the distance. "I didn't know your Sonic was a pilot, Tails!"

Tails squinted against the light and smiled brightly at the sight of Sonic piloting the aircraft. Relief rolled off his shoulders, wasting no time in flying in that direction. "If he's okay, then maybe Shadow and Silver are too!"

Up ahead, Sonic was keeping an eye on the hole, thinking that if Shadow and Silver weren't back in the next minute or so, he was going in after them. He refused to fly in any more circles after that.

"Sonic!"

Sonic perked up at the sound of his name, hastily searching around until he found Tails. The kit was waving with one hand, carrying a forever-grumpy Boom with the other. Grey was floating beside him with… was that an emerald? _The_ emerald they were looking for?

"Hey!" he shouted as loud as he could over the winds. Sonic brought the plane down for a landing on the closest sturdy-looking platform. It had been within the radius of the emerald's control, but he didn't have to worry about that anymore.

After landing, Sonic hopped out of the pilot seat and waved enthusiastically back. When the trio got close enough, Sonic scanned them for injuries and relaxed when he didn't find anything major. Grey had a bruise on his cheek, and Boom had… bite marks? They didn't seem too deep, though.

"You guys found the emerald!" he cheered. "That's awesome!"

"More like the emerald found us!" Tails snickered when he safely released Boom, the blue hedgehog rotating his shoulder. Tails was glad that he wouldn't be the one to break things up anymore. "We were deep in the base and then poof! It was right there!"

"Huh… I wonder what caused that to happen?" Sonic asked. Usually Chaos energy caused the emerald to go on the fritz, so unless Eggman had a Chaos emerald too, he had no clue.

Tails was no more knowledgeable than he was. "No idea!"

Sonic pursed his lips but pushed that aside for now. Drifting his focus from Tails, he witnessed Boom throwing a punch at the back of Grey's head only for a blue shield to stop it. Grey smirked, Boom scowled, and Sonic wasn't going to question that. Instead, "You three were together? No Nummy and Mephy?"

Grey shook his head, twirling the emerald with his powers. "Nah, because…" He focused above Sonic's head, and his jaw slackened. "Because they're right there."

The blue hero spun on his heel and stumbled back in shock. Penumbra waved lethargically when Silver grounded him, his movements paired with badly veiled winces. His other arm was in terrible shape, still bleeding.

"Happy to see all you okay," Nummy rasped.

"I wish I could say the same to you, bud! And…" Sonic trailed off when he looked at Mephiles. He was taken aback at the mess, the shaking, and how unresponsive he seemed. Mephy was still being supported by telekinesis. Sonic shot Shadow and Silver a questioning glance.

Shadow took the initiative to respond. "They found King Boom Boo." Tails and Sonic stiffened. "They won because _Mephiles_ shot him with the laser."

Sonic tensed, glimpsing over to Mephy. His eyes met the other's jaded greens. A black liquid dripped from his chin. Something in Sonic's gut twisted. "He shot it?" he repeated in disbelief, and Shadow and Silver nodded simultaneously.

Tails' voice was weaker. "So that's what caused the blast from earlier…"

Boom figured that he was missing something important here, but he didn't give a shit. Someone shooting a laser should not leave the person in _that_ condition. "Is no one going to ask why the _fuck_ he's like that?! The hell is that black stuff?"

"We don't know," Shadow uttered, and Boom furrowed his brow at the obvious lie.

"Well…" Grey couldn't decide who was worst off. Penumbra was bleeding from multiple places and his arm was the main source of that, but Mephiles… something wasn't right. "Can we stop standing around and get going, then? We gotta get help for them and I _really_ don't want Eggman catching us out here."

"Yeah…" Sonic's smile was back. He gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, you're right, Grey! Let's get out of here before Eggface shows his head!"

Silver carefully guided Mephy into the back seat of the plane, securing him in. Mephiles stared at him before sloppily signing, **"Thank you."**

"Anytime," Silver said with a nod, conflicted. He was extremely worried about his condition, but at the same time, the coincidences kept adding up.

"You're gonna be okay ridin' on the wing again, Nummy?" Sonic asked Penumbra, for they didn't have another seat for him.

"I'll be okay," he reassured before going over and boarding one of the wings with one arm. His movements were somewhat clumsy, but he managed.

Grey had a feeling he wouldn't last long. "If it hurts too much, I'll be there to catch you, 'kay?" Penumbra nodded in appreciation.

Shadow wordlessly settled beside Nummy on the wing, and Boom claimed his spot on the left one. No one commented on how he chose to be closer to the body of the plane this time.

Sonic crouched beside his twin and called to Tails, "We're all set! Ready when you a-"

A strangled noise coming from Mephiles interrupted him, and the shadow 'hog shot forward in his seat, wheezing.

"What's going on now?!" Grey yelled in panic.

His shout seemed to startle Mephy, for he jumped a bit. He searched and found the psychic floating in the air, confusion settling in his expression at his presence and at the emerald in his possession. Actually, Mephiles was puzzled by everything around him, his brow deeply furrowing.

Then he noticed his messy hands. He stared at them in shock, turning them over before swiftly signing, **"What happened?"** Mephy made eye contact with Boom, silently pleading for him to translate and answer. **"What's the black stuff? How did everyone find each other?"**

Everybody was looking at Boom now. He disregarded them and the questions. _What in the hell is going on here?_ "Tell me the last thing you remember."

Mephiles gestured at Penumbra. **"I was in the room with him. Ghosts were surrounding us and then I…don't know anything after that."**

"The hell you mean you don't know?" This wasn't making any sense. "How you do forget firing a giant _laser?_ "

Mephy stilled. He did what?

"Wait, you don't remember?" Grey floated next to Mephy, dumbfounded. "But you weren't unconscious or anything!"

The conversation was cut short by Shadow's near growl. "We'll solve the mystery of this _later._ We need to leave. Tails, fly the plane."

Tails completely understood his haste. "On it!"

Penumbra frowned over at Shadow, flinching when the bumps irritated his injuries. "Why are you mean?"

Shadow ignored him and Boom's sharp gaze.

Mephy splayed out his drenched fingers once more as wind whipped through his quills. _We found each other, we got the emerald, and I got rid of the ghosts with a…a beam! Why don't I…?_

"Don't worry too much, Mephy!" Sonic advised with a placating grin. "We'll crack the case when we get back home!"

Mephiles really hoped that he would keep his word.

* * *

"S-So why couldn't I just take the emerald from them?"

Bat was sitting on top of the pyramid, conversing by internal communicator as the plane flew over the horizon. It was nothing but a small speck in the sky.

" _Because you wouldn't be able to! Not against all of them! Plus, the emerald is in their hands now. We can't take it by force, not at the moment."_

Bat pondered that wording. _"B-But we will eventually?"_ He did have that tracker, after all.

Inside the base, Eggman was still in his office, scanning his cameras. There were multiple angles of the light beam that blasted through the walls, including the one of its source.

He studied the outstretched hands and the glowing green eyes with a prominent frown.

"Yes…eventually."

* * *

 **They got the emerald, yay! Now everyone can just go back home and relax with no worries!**

 **...But the story wouldn't be** **exciting** **if I let them do that, now would it?  
**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer- I don't own Sonic and co.**

 **Woo boy, it's been a while, huh? I don't have any excuses really. Like, I've had the outline done for this chapter a** _ **long**_ **time ago, but my brain just shut down whenever I tried to write. Maybe it was because of the characters and their interactions…idk. But I finally got it done! Enjoy!**

 **Beta'd by 18204!**

 **Chapter 13- Illusory**

The ride home from Seaside Hill was quiet – not like Red had expected anything different.

The sounds of a rumbling engine and the whipping of winds were the only things that filled the silence in the jeep. Even Charmy had known to properly read the atmosphere, staying quiet as he shared a seat with Espio up front.

There was a shift beside Red, and a restrained whimper accompanied the movement. He glanced over and frowned at the discomfort that twisted TT's features. "Your chest is giving you trouble?" Red asked lowly, knowing the answer to the question already. His own broken nose was giving him trouble with every risky breath he took with it, so whatever laid underneath TT's nasty bruises had to be painful by this point.

TT subtly nodded, taking too deep of a breath that caused him to suck his teeth in pain. "Y-Yeah…"

After eyeing the kit's bruises for another moment, Red threw his voice to the front of the vehicle. "How much longer do we have until we get there?" While they wouldn't be healed until Penumbra and Shadow returned, resting without harsh curves and bumps in the road would be a welcome change.

Vector was the one to answer him. "Should be at Vanilla's in 'bout five minutes!" He briefly peered over his shoulder, scanning the ones in the back with a sympathetic eye. "Then all of you can rest up until the boys come back with that crazy emerald."

There was no 'if' or any doubt in that statement. Shadow and the others would bring that gem back. If only Rosy shared that confidence.

Considering who all went to retrieve the emerald, Red would've thought that Rosy would be more positive about the situation. That wasn't the case. Maybe it was the fact that Eggman was active again, or that Bat was back, or that being reminded of what she had lost was too big of a hit. He wasn't sure.

Red nodded at Vector's words before addressing TT. "Can you hold out until then?"

"I can…" He shifted more in his seat, getting as comfortable as he could. Red noticed how TT was refraining from touching Rosy, who was oblivious to their conversation as she stared out the window. He was about to ask why, but TT shook his head. "I d-don't want her to worry even more…"

Red didn't know the difference between knowing now and knowing in five minutes, but he kept quiet anyway.

They lapsed into silence once more until Vanilla's house came into view.

The grassy yard was empty when Vector parked the jeep, unlocking the doors. While the Chaotix got out and stretched, Red watched as TT struggled to take off his seatbelt.

"I got it." He undid the buckle for the kid, receiving an appreciative smile in return. "Do you think you'll be able to make it inside, or do you need some help?"

TT opened his mouth, but he seemed to rethink his answer when a wrong move caused his body to stiffen. He meekly nodded with a whispered, "Please…"

Red got out of the jeep and turned around, thinking about the other's bad luck. This hadn't been the first time TT's ribs had taken a beating. First back in their world, and then now…hopefully they wouldn't have to worry about these kinds of injuries anytime soon.

The echidna held his arms out, positioning them under the kit as carefully as he could. TT hissed under his breath once he secured him in his hold; Red was about to reassure him that a bed was only a few steps away, but a hushed gasp made him glance up.

Rosy, out of the jeep, just noticed the condition of her kid brother and the assistance he was getting. She bit her lip in worry, looking between TT and Red. "How bad does it hurt now, Tails?"

TT took too deep of a breath to answer, and nothing but a low whimper escaped him.

Red made sure that Rosy was reading his lips when he spoke, adjusting the fox in his grip. "It's safe to say that he needs a place to lie down."

Rosy nodded but didn't respond. The immense concern etched in her features said what words didn't. Red inwardly sighed as he managed to shut the door with his body, hoping that Shadow's group succeeded in their mission so they could go back to adjusting to their new lives.

Vector was knocking at the front door at this point; Espio sent TT a sympathetic look before trying to console him. "It might take a while, but your injuries will be taken care of when the others come back." Espio then locked gazes with Rosy, his tone soft yet confident. "And hopefully yours too."

Doubt was still written all over her face even as she nodded.

Red's stare lingered on the pinkette until the door flew open. "Hey, welcome back!" Amy greeted with a cautious smile that marginally faded at the conditions of Red, TT, and Rosy. She immediately ran out and gingerly wrapped her double in a hug. Rosy was fighting back tears as she hugged her back.

When Amy leaned away, she squeezed Rosy's shoulders in reassurance. "They _will_ bring the emerald back, okay?" She then faced TT and Red, her expression softening at their conditions. "And you two will be fixed up, good as new! There will be _no_ hints of Bat left on you."

The image of that robot left Red frowning. "Hopefully there will be no hints of Bat period when the group comes back." Maybe they would get Eggman to take an early retirement as well, but he knew that was wishful thinking. He'd learned that this Eggman was extremely stubborn.

At the sound of a shocked gasp, Red snapped his attention to Cream, who was now standing in the doorway. She was looking at TT's supported form. "Do you need a place to lay down, Mr. TT?"

"Yeah, we should get him inside," Red uttered for the kit, walking into the home.

"He can use my room!" Cream said and, after giving TT another concerned glance, took the lead. "The soft mattress should let him rest a little easier!"

Red followed her through the living room, nodding in greeting to Blaze and Vanilla, who were both sharing a couch. He noticed the absence of others who were supposed to be here as well, but he pushed that to the back of his mind for now. TT's breathy whines were more important.

When they reached the bedroom, Red carefully placed TT down on the ruffled sheets, hearing a muffled hiss from the kit. Worry flooded Cream's features when she asked, "Do you want any ice?" TT nodded, and the bunny dashed out of the room. Red didn't know how much ice would dull the pain of an internal injury, but something was better than nothing, he guessed.

"Th-Thank you…" the kid murmured, getting comfortable on a pillow.

"Don't mention it." Red reached up to scratch the back of his head, wincing at the pain that accompanied the action. He couldn't be surprised. Bat had shown _no_ mercy when he'd blasted him into a cliff.

TT must've caught the expression. "Are y-you okay?"

Red waved him off because his injuries paled in comparison to the fox's. "I will be. Don't worry about it."

TT didn't get a chance to respond, for Rosy shuffled into the room with two ice packs in her hands. The pinkette sat on the back of the bed and softly placed one on the dark purple splotch on TT's chest. He sucked in a harsh breath, and she soothed, "I know it hurts, but just keep it on there, okay? It'll take some of the pain away."

It took a moment, but the shock of pain faded, and TT managed to hold the pack in place. Rosy squeezed his leg in comfort before holding the second ice pack out for Red. "I told Cream to make two," she said, eyeing his face. "Your nose has to be bothering you."

"Thanks." Red took it, and instead of pressing it against his muzzle, he held the coldness against the back of his head. The chill replaced the dull pain there, if nothing else. "But I'd rather not chance touching my nose at the moment."

Rosy attempted to smile, but it fell flat. "That's fair." She glanced over at TT, who had closed his eyes and relaxed as much as he could. "I'm…" Rosy sighed, raking her fingers through her quills. "I'm going to stay here with him until they get back. Not really in the mood to talk, you know?"

Red nodded, taking that as his cue to give her space. She wanted some time alone, and he respected that. Rosy's attention was still on TT; there was no point in verbally answering.

With a wave that she surely saw in her periphery, Red turned to leave.

"Knuckles?" Pausing, he peered over his shoulder and rose a brow at her. Rosy was looking at him now, eyes glossy, with her fingers clenching the sheet beside her. She took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm _s-so_ sorry about earlier. I know that losing the emerald wasn't your fault, but I had been angry…" She rubbed at her eyes, but tears began to flow down her cheeks anyway. "So _angry_ and terrified and I-" Rosy choked on her words when one of her hands was suddenly grabbed.

TT's eyes were damp as well, but the squeeze he gave her fingers seemed to distract her enough from her downward spiraling thoughts. Exhaling shakily, Rosy repeated, "I'm sorry for blaming you."

Despite having minimal experience in the comforting department, Red went over and placed a hand on her shoulder. When she peered up at him through the stagnant tears, he muttered, "I was never angry in the first place, so don't kick yourself when you're already down." He patted her before stepping away, giving a subtle grin. "Plus, you know me. Keeping a grudge takes too much energy."

He got Rosy to giggle, the sound heavy with emotion. TT smiled beside her.

Happy with that for now, Red jabbed his thumb towards the door and asked, "Want me to close it?"

Rosy nodded, sniffling. "Yeah. Tails probably wants to rest a little before they get back."

With no other words, Red did so and rejoined with the others talking in the living room. They quieted when he entered, Amy taking the initiative in asking, "How are they?"

"They'll be fine." Red claimed the empty spot they graciously left him on the couch. He settled beside Blaze, relaxing his sore body. He ran a hand down his face and sighed. "Bat was _seriously_ the last thing we needed today."

"You can say that again!" Charmy was hovering around in the air. "And I feel bad that we weren't there to help you guys out with the bot!"

Espio stood beside Red, guilt in his expression. "Bat wouldn't have done so much damage if we had."

Red waved them off. The fight and the outcome hadn't been fun, but at least they had gotten something out of it. "You all had a job to do, and there was no way of knowing that the bot would've shown up in the first place." He stifled a yawn. "And well, if we hadn't found the emerald and run into him, then Eggman would've had it without us knowing."

"I suppose that's true." Espio reluctantly relented, glancing back in the direction of the bedroom.

Vector was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Let's all hope that Sonic's group can get the emerald back with no problems."

Blaze rose a brow at him. "Is there any doubt considering who went?"

"I know, but Eggman bounced back _way_ too fast for my tastes! He's gotta have some type of plan, and well, Boom tagged along. We all know that he isn't exactly a team player."

Red shrugged. "But everyone else is. They'll keep him in check if he needs it." Boom had always been adamant about working alone, but this should be one of the exceptions. He wouldn't ruin the mission like that. Hopefully.

The conversation lulled then, and Red figured that it was time for a topic change. "Where are the others?" He assumed that Rogue, VC, CB, and Rouge would be here too when they had gotten back.

Amy responded, sitting on the floor beside Cream. "They went to pick up some pizza for all of us! They actually left right before you got here." She then jumped to her feet. "That reminds me! Do any of you want a cookie before they get back?"

Charmy stilled in the air, brightening. "Ooo ooo! Yes! Where are they?"

Espio shook his head in slight exasperation. "At least wait until we eat lunch, Charmy. You-"

"They're chocolate chip," Amy cut in with a small grin.

Charmy _and_ Vector perked up, and Espio's resolve seemed to crumble. "Are they in the kitchen?"

"Yep! Grab one each!"

"Snag me one," Red told Espio as the trio moved toward the kitchen. He deserved the treat after the struggles he'd gone through today. "And take some to Rosy and TT too."

Because they sure as hell needed the pick-me-up.

* * *

Mephiles squinted against the late afternoon sun, smiling in relief at the familiar home steadily growing in the distance.

He was more than ready to end their mission and return the emerald to Rosy – hopefully along with her hearing – so he could rest and clean his sore body.

Mephy's smile waned when he looked down at the black gunk on his arm, wondering what in the world it was. Sonic had told him that he had thrown it up in the pyramid, and he could believe that because it was similar to the liquid he had coughed up when he woke up in Cream's house.

That was what concerned him. This wasn't normal. Of course, being revived from the dead wasn't either; but the fact that no one else knew what it was raised many red flags.

Well, he assumed no one knew. Of course Boom, Nummy, and Grey wouldn't have a clue, but there had been a chance that the rest might have. Unfortunately, Sonic, Silver, Shadow, and Tails said that they didn't. Something was off about them, though. He couldn't put a finger on it.

Sonic was still as chatty as ever, Silver and Tails still made conversation, and Shadow was still…Shadow, but the atmosphere wasn't the same as it had been on the way to the pyramid.

Maybe they were simply concerned about his memory-wiping black out and the strange mess he'd made on himself. That could be it…

"Home, sweet home!" Sonic's peppy voice ousted his confused thoughts. The blue speedster was leaning forward on the wing of the plane, grinning down at the incoming home. He then peered over at Penumbra, who was being mentally carried by Grey. Nummy hadn't had the strength to hold on the entire ride. "You made it back without passin' out on us! I'm proud of ya!"

Grey, having taken Penumbra's place on the wing beside Shadow, praised him as well. "You really are something else! With that arm, I would've been out a _long_ time ago."

Penumbra barely seemed to be hanging onto consciousness, but a small smile grew on his face anyway. It looked more like a grimace. "Thank you…"

Mephiles watched the other's arm hang limply, blood dripping from his fingertips. He hoped that the Chaos emerald had remained at the house, ready for use. Penumbra needed reprieve from the pain pronto.

"Hey, look!" Mephy's attention snapped ahead to where Tails was pointing. He followed his finger and saw their friends flooding out of the house, colorful blobs contrasting the green yard. "Guess they were listening real hard for us!"

Mephiles didn't blame them. The emerald was pretty important, and they had been gone for a long while. Anyone would be getting a little antsy.

Tails lowered the plane to come in for a landing, and they heard happy cheers coming from below. Grey was waving the mysterious gem around with his powers, gaining the attention of everyone including Rosy. She was standing wide-eyed, her smile threatening to split her face in half.

The happiness of the group somewhat waned when the plane slid to a stop. Mephiles wasn't surprised because his and Penumbra's conditions weren't the greatest. Luckily, only he and Nummy had gotten the short end of the stick during the mission.

"Nummy! Mephy!" CB was the first to approach, darting anxiously through the air. "What happened?! You look hurt and…and gross!" he bluntly pointed out, scrunching his nose up at Mephiles' mess.

"Hurt is an understatement," Blaze commented with a frown, watching as Grey carefully lowered a bloodied Penumbra to the ground. He was cradling his arm close to his body. "What happened?"

Sonic hopped down from the wing. "Eggman had a couple surprises up his sleeve that threw everyone for a loop. They'll be alright!" He scanned the crowd, asking, "Who has the Chaos emerald?"

"I do, Blue." Rouge spoke up, holding out the shining gem. "Never let it out of my sight."

"Cool! Now let Nummy have it so he can-"

"He can't do it anywhere near here." Shadow interrupted, leaving the plane as well. He crossed his arms and nodded in the direction of the magenta emerald floating by Grey. "The last thing we need is for that one to teleport away again."

Cream gained his attention, pointing into the house. "Mr. TT needs to be healed too! Could Mr. Penumbra use the Chaos emerald in there?"

At Shadow's hesitation, Rouge shrugged. "I think it should be fine. The emerald didn't react until you had been right on top of Mephiles here."

Mephy recalled the disaster he had left in Cream's room and hoped nothing of that nature happened again.

When Shadow didn't oppose, Rouge tossed the gem over to Penumbra. He caught it with his usable hand and took a step forward only to stumble, barely able to keep his balance.

"I got you!" Silver was quick to act, wrapping him up in a cyan aura. Nummy mumbled something similar to a thanks, and Silver wasted no time in guiding the striped hedgehog inside.

Mephy couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he finally got out of the plane, worried about his abused side. He knew that he had pulled some kind of miracle with the strange laser he apparently shot, but he had been _completely_ useless up until then with Penumbra taking most of the hits.

He sighed, but the sound turned into a silent hiss when he tried to stand, his muscles pulling in all the wrong ways. Sitting still in a stiff plane seat the whole flight probably didn't help with the bruises.

"Need some help?"

Mephiles glanced over to see Red standing by him, smiling. Mephy returned the expression but shook his head. He didn't want to dirty the echidna with the black stuff all over him, despite his body needing all the help it could get.

Red seemed to understand, examining his condition as he somewhat clumsily clambered out of the plane. Red gave him some space, brow raised. "I knew that you came back from the dead, but I hadn't expected you to look like an actual zombie."

Yeah, Mephy agreed that he didn't look the best, and his movement wasn't the smoothest either. Healing with the emerald again should get him back to normal – well, as normal as he could get after the explosion.

He meekly shrugged in response before realizing how quiet the yard had gotten. Mephy looked over, and his eyes widened at the sight of Rosy holding the strange emerald. Everyone was watching her, but she was staring at the jewel.

Mephiles didn't know how long the silence went on for, but it felt like an eternity before Grey hesitantly asked, "Did it work?"

Rosy looked up at him with watery eyes and a bright smile. A laugh bubbled out of her throat as she gleefully nodded.

Grey wasted no time in scooping her up and twirling her around in the air, Rosy's surprised gasp turning into carefree giggles.

Her happiness was contagious, for nearly everyone was laughing or smiling at the development. Mephiles was in the latter category, immensely relieved that they had managed to retrieve the emerald. He knew that it wasn't permanent, but it was better than the silence she didn't deserve.

When Grey placed Rosy back on the ground, she wiped away her tears with her unoccupied hand. "I've been crying way too much these last few days." She fanned her face, taking a deep breath to calm herself down. "It's just… you don't take hearing your own voice for granted until…"

Her voice cracked at the end, and Amy was at her side in an instant, wrapping a comforting arm around her. "It's okay to let it all out! You've been through a lot!" Rosy gave her a thankful smile. Amy returned it before continuing, "And there won't be a reason to cry anymore. We're going to find a way to make this permanent! Right, everyone?"

"Right!" Tails hovered closer, gazing at the gem in wonder. "I've gotta do a lot of research on the emerald to know the ins and outs of its powers, but we should find a way!"

Rosy nodded, sniffling and trying to hold her tears at bay again. "Thank you…" She then swept the yard, looking at the ones who had just returned. "Thank _all_ of you so much for finding the emerald. I know that wasn't just for me, but still."

Sonic smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Of course! After hearing what it could do, we couldn't just leave it alone, y'know? We had to help! That's what friends are for!"

"Friends, huh?" Rosy drifted her attention towards Boom.

He leaned against the plane, scowling. "Don't go assuming shit."

"Sure." Despite his harsh tone, Rosy's smile didn't fade. Boom scoffed and turned his head away. Rosy then faced Mephiles, making her way over to him. "And Mephy…I know it was an accident, but without this emerald, I wouldn't have as much hope as I do now."

Mephiles rubbed the back of his neck, unsure if he should actually take the praise for this. Like she said, it had been completely accidental. On the other hand, the gem wouldn't be in its current state without him.

Rosy stopped in front of him, eyeing his body. "I would hug you, but uh…" she teased, gesturing to the mess.

Mephy guessed that it was about time he should get cleaned up. He signed, **"I'll go rinse off,"** as simply as he could before moving in the direction of the home. He didn't go far, for Rosy stopped him.

"Hey, wait. I've got an idea!" She looked from his hands to the emerald in her own. Her expression grew pensive. "I don't know if you even want this, but… if the emerald can give me back my hearing, do you think it could let you talk?"

Mephiles froze in shock. The thought had never before crossed his mind.

"Whoa…" Charmy's eyes were blown wide. "Can it really do that?!"

Red shrugged. "It should. The emerald would be doing the opposite of what it is now. Instead of letting Rosy hear our voices, we would be able to hear Mephiles'."

"Is there nothing this gem can't do?" VC grinned at Mephy. "You gotta try it out! I'm sure we've all wondered what you sound like at least once!"

"Yeah! You gotta!" CB excitedly encouraged, darting around in the air.

Rosy giggled. "I guess you don't really have a choice." She held the jewel out, a subtle hint of doubt marring her features. "If we both touch it, I should still be able to hear. Hopefully."

Mephiles stared at the emerald as emotions clashed within him. He could barely process this because he'd been without a voice his _whole_ life, completely silent. There had been times when he'd wonder what he would've sounded like, but he knew that thinking about it wouldn't change how things were. He had accepted that he had gotten the short end of the stick in the voice department and moved on.

Now the impossibility was being handed to him as a free gift.

 _But would it be my real voice?_ Mephiles thought, the doubts rolling in. _How would it know if I never had one? If it did figure it out, would I like it? What if it actually didn't work and I'm given this false hope-_

"Are you okay, Mephy?"

Rosy was peering up at him, concerned, and Mephiles smothered all of the negativity in his head. He wouldn't know until he went for it.

Mephy gave a reassuring smile before hesitantly touching the gem with his fingertips. Rosy released a relieved breath as he opened and closed his mouth, nervous.

Mentally pushing himself, he inhaled and shakily uttered, "Hello?" He gasped when he actually _spoke_ and rubbed his throat with his hand. It was deeper than he imagined it, almost gravelly. He couldn't bring himself to hate it.

It turned out that the others were in the same boat.

Rosy gaped and stared at him in amazement. "Oh my gosh…"

"That's what you sound like?" CB buzzed around his head, equally in awe. "It's so cool!"

Rogue laughed. "It's a deeper voice than mine! Kinda jealous, bro!"

Mephiles softly chuckled, his happiness skyrocketing at the sound. "Thank you," he said, testing his voice. "I…" He trailed off at the sight of movement to his left. Glancing over, he saw Silver standing in the doorway, and the look he saw made the rest of his words die in his throat.

Silver tried to hide it when they locked gazes, but Mephiles caught the shock, the wariness, and the borderline _panic_ before a halfhearted smile attempted to cover it up.

Mephy blinked before snapping his attention to Blaze, Amy, Tails, Rouge, and Sonic. They all shared those emotions to some degree. It was written all over their faces. He saw Boom frowning at them, probably confused as to why. He hadn't put together the pieces yet.

Mephiles had, though. Especially since Shadow had the same piercing stare he had when they first met. Shadow didn't hide it when Mephy looked at him, unwavering.

Nearly all confidence fled Mephiles' tone when he murmured, "I…sound like him, don't I?" He quickly retracted his fingers from the gem and signed, **"Sorry."**

Sonic recovered first, waving his hands in front of himself. "It's fine, really! It caught us off guard, that's all!"

That wasn't all, and Mephiles knew it. His evil double had caused trouble in the past, and Mephiles hated that he might've brought back buried memories. Why hadn't he thought about this earlier?

Guilt-ridden, he gestured to the home. **"I'll be back."** He left the yard and ignored the voices calling for him to stay. Silver had stepped to the side for him to enter. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he remained quiet.

Mephiles somehow managed an apologetic smile before moving on, remembering where the bathroom was and wincing as his bruises disagreed with his hastiness. When he entered the bathroom, he heard soft voices down the hallway. TT and Penumbra must still be healing.

He thought about checking up on them, but…he needed some time to himself.

Outside, Shadow was tense, staring at the open front door. He should probably feel bad about what had just happened, but he couldn't. Coincidences were adding up. He refused to ignore them.

Mephiles coming back to life was a shock; however, it could be explained. Same with the laser back at the pyramid. What _couldn't_ be explained was the black goo that had been coughed up after doing so, and now Mephiles had the same _voice?_

That didn't make any sense. From what Shadow knew of this strange emerald, it tapped into the minds of the one controlling it and projected illusions onto others. If that was the case, then Mephiles' voice shouldn't be near _identical_ to the other one's. He couldn't possibly know what the dead twin sounded like; so why did the _emerald_ know?

Shadow clenched his jaw. He needed answers.

He was ousted from his troubling thoughts when Grey's angered voice cut through them. "Did you _have_ to make him feel bad about it?" The psychic glared at the ones to blame. "It's not even his fault!"

"Yeah!" CB frowned in the direction Mephiles left. "That was mean!"

Blaze crossed her arms, tail twitching. "It's not like we did it on purpose," she crisply defended herself. "Like Sonic said, it caught us off guard."

"But why would it?" Red asked with a subtle frown. "Everyone here sounds the same as their double, so why would Mephiles be any different?"

"Don't forget that you acted similarly when I first encountered you and Rosy." Espio reminded him. "You two were extremely wary, and she almost attacked me. At least they hadn't gone that far."

Rosy stubbornly shook her head. "That was different! We had no idea that you weren't Sabo, but we all know now that Mephy is a good guy!"

Shadow slightly narrowed his eyes at her words, for that statement wasn't as set in concrete as it had been. Wanting to end this argument, he stepped forward and snapped, "The last time we heard Mephiles' voice was when Sonic was dead on the ground and our world was on the edge of ruin." As expected, silence reigned afterward. Shadow wasn't done. "He was a deceitful manipulator, he killed anyone in his way without remorse, and he came _pretty_ damn close to erasing all of existence just for power _._ " A growl had leaked into his voice by this point. "So excuse us for being a bit _surprised._ "

Rosy had lost some of her fight at this point, but she still said, "I still feel bad for him." She held the emerald closer, her gaze steady. "He finally has a voice after all this time, and now he probably won't use it because of the guilt he doesn't deserve."

Rouge gave him a meaningful glance, and Shadow harshly exhaled to calm himself down. He was getting too riled up at the memories. "We'll talk to him later."

Rosy didn't seem happy with that. "Well, I'm going to check on him _now_."

"You can't take that back there with you," Shadow stated, regarding the gem she held. The pinkette paused mid-stride and bit her lip. There was an obvious war going on in her mind.

Tails gave her a wobbly smile, still recuperating from that little argument. "How about…we start a little on the research until he comes back?"

Turning away from the door, Rosy glanced at him. "What kind of research?"

Tails pointed to the glowing jewel. "At the base, Eggman used the emerald to make illusions of Bat to confuse us. I just want to see if you can manage to do that too."

Rosy blinked in surprise, along with many others. The atmosphere shifted for the better with the change of topic. "Illusions of him?"

"Yep!" Sonic affirmed. He scratched his cheek, huffing. "Fake ones and real ones too! Egghead had figured the gem out pretty fast."

"Whoa, hold up. Are you pulling our legs here, dude?" Rogue looked between him and the emerald. "I mean, I guess the fake ones make sense with the illusions and stuff, but the real ones? Like, you can touch them?"

"Yeah," the speedster replied. "But they were _way_ weaker than the actual Bat. They went down in like two hits. No sweat at all!"

"Luckily," Red muttered. "Because dealing with more than one Bat would've been a chore. How did you manage to find the real one hiding in all of them?"

Grey sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I know we said that we would take care of Bat, but we actually didn't get to that."

Rosy was wide-eyed, speechless, so Amy took the initiative to speak. "Are you serious?!" When no one admitted it as a joke, she understandably started yelling. "We told you guys that Bat has a tracker! Why wouldn't you destroy him?"

"Calm down, Ames!" Sonic held his hands up innocently. "You saw the condition Nummy was in!" Shadow appreciated him leaving out Mephiles' mysterious spell. "We had to leave because of him, and because the base was huge! We wouldn't have been able to track him down without risking losing the emerald."

"But still! You should've done something!" Amy gestured over to Rosy, who had stiffened up. "Because now, if Bat comes for the emerald, he'd come for _her_ and-"

"He's not a threat," Shadow curtly interrupted her. Before anyone – Red or Rosy – could oppose, he added, "You're staying at the Chaotix's place, so I'm sure you'll have enough protection there." His eyes flickered over at Espio, and the chameleon nodded. "I'll have Omega guard as well for safety's sake."

If Rosy was relieved by this, it didn't show. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Rosy disregarded everything that Shadow said, instead asking, "D-Do I have to make a copy of Bat? I don't want him anywhere near here, fake or otherwise."

"It doesn't have to be him!" Tails warmly reassured. "It can be anyone you want."

"Kay…" Rosy muttered, focusing on the emerald. For a moment, nothing but the rustling of distant leaves was heard – until a figure popped into existence beside her.

A few heroes gasped at the sudden appearance of a specific blue hedgehog. Rosy was one of them, clutching her chest.

Sonic whistled lowly as he approached the newly created doppelganger. It silently watched with a blank stare, unresponsive when Sonic poked a finger right through its chest.

Sonic walked around and examined it, grinning. "Yep, it's an accurate copy alright!"

"Is it, though?" Rouge sauntered up next to him, eyeing the illusion. "The look is down, but the unnerving blank stare isn't cutting it, Blue. Did the fake Bats talk?"

"Too much." Shadow grunted, unsure whether having the emerald be so easy to use was a good thing or not. All the more reason to keep it protected. He addressed Rosy, "Can you give it a personality?"

"Um…sure?" She fell silent again, concentrating, and the illusion's expression instantly scowled.

It shot everyone within five feet a harsh glare. "The fuck you all close to me for? I'm always grumpy and unapproachable, so give me my space, dammit!"

There was a chorus of chuckles around the yard, and Boom's scowl matched the illusion's. "Fuck _off_ ," he spat.

Sonic smirked at him. "You can't lie, it's a perfect impression!"

Grey barked out a laugh. "I'm liking this emerald _way_ more now! Think of the pranks we could pull!"

Shadow shut that idea down instantly. _"Don't._ It's not a toy. It's far too dangerous for someone to play with." He judged the glowering fake for another second before saying, "Make it tangible."

"This is so weird…" Rosy muttered as she did so, watching aptly as the Boom illusion lost its scowl, expressionless again.

Sonic poked the fake's chest again, but this time, there was some resistance. "It's just like at the base! The real clones had no personality."

"Thankfully." Shadow approached and shoved the clone backwards. It stumbled over its feet but remained balanced. Those eyes remained emotionless. He hummed in thought. "So, there was a clear difference between the two." Beneficial knowledge for later. "Now, make it-"

Shadow's next words were swallowed up by the sound of a fist smashing against a jaw. Rosy gasped in surprise when the copy careened to the side, Red hopping away to avoid getting hit. The illusion limply slid across the ground and faded away before it came to a complete stop.

Shadow stared at the empty spot, processed what just happened, and gave Boom a level stare. The blue hedgehog was standing in front of him with a clenched fist and a satisfied smirk.

Boom lowered his arm, flexing his fingers. "I've always wanted to do that."

Sonic rolled his eyes and smirked. "Do what? Punch yourself in the face?" Boom turned to snap back at him, but Sonic pointed at something over his twin's shoulder. "You better watch out before you get a taste of your own medicine!"

"Wha-" Boom peered back and hastily ducked a punch aimed for his nose. He scowled, backpedaling away from the same illusion as before. Rosy must've made another one. Its blank stare was trained on him as it slipped in a crouched position, ready to fight. Boom glared at Rosy, and she flashed him an unapologetic smile.

"Thought you could get a stupid cheap shot in?" Boom bit, speeding over and roundhouse kicking the copy in the head before it could react. It faded away again, red glitches surrounding the body, and Boom scoffed. "You need to try harder than that."

Rosy shrugged, almost looking proud of herself. "I had the chance, so I thought I should try. I knew you'd avoid it."

Boom's glare didn't let up.

Grey chuckled as he floated to Rosy's side, nudging her. "Now we know not to get on her bad side! She could make anything happen!"

"Again, this is not a _toy._ " Shadow couldn't emphasize this enough. Having illusions distort someone's reality _and_ having the ability to produce tangible copies was extremely dangerous under the wrong circumstances. The last thing they needed was for the gem to go haywire. He gave Rosy a pointed look. "I hope you realize that."

The pinkette sobered up a bit, her voice growing soft. "Of course I do, Shadow. No toy would be able to give me my hearing back." Rosy held up the magenta emerald, eyes shining with interest. "So…what should I do next?"

* * *

Gadget resisted the urge to fidget in his seat, taking deep breaths to calm his nerves. He closed his eyes to protect them from the buzzing fluorescent lights above and willed himself to not drift off then and there.

Ever since the phone call, his day had been a whirlwind. He'd regretfully skipped out on all of his classes, was in a frenzy trying to catch a last-minute flight, and he had been on the verge of a heart attack until he was accepted despite how close he had arrived to the prison's closing time.

There was always the option to visit tomorrow, to not push himself so hard; but when it came to that jackal…the sooner the better.

Propping his elbows on the table in front of him, Gadget took off his glasses and rested his forehead in his palms. He didn't want to see him. He had gone this long without being in his presence, so what had happened to change that?

How did he get caught _?_

It couldn't have been because of Gadget. No. He had triple-checked the validity of the client. He didn't make a mistake. His life was on the line; he couldn't _afford_ to make a mistake.

But would Infinite believe that? Gadget figured that he wouldn't. The jackal had been found by _Sonic_ and _Shadow_ , for crying out loud.

Gadget had to make him understand that it had been a total coincidence. He didn't know how or why the beloved hero had been mixed up in it, but he had to make sure Infinite understood that it wasn't his fault that this happened.

Infinite had promised protection if and only if he did his job correctly. The jackal couldn't hurt him from jail, that was true, but he had outside connections _._ Too many connections that could _easily…_

Gadget shakily exhaled. He distracted himself from his intruding thoughts by listening to the snippets of conversation echoing around the sizable room he was in.

While he had arrived at the prison late at night, he wasn't the only person visiting the inmates. He'd passed by wives, friends, and children talking into a phone to prisoners, separated by a thick pane of glass.

Gadget only wished that the glass secured his own safety.

He froze when a door slammed in the distance, and his breath caught in his throat at the sound of footsteps coming his way.

He couldn't act like this. Considering how he hadn't been contacted by the police or anything, the measures taken to hide his contribution to the… business had worked. If he acted suspicious now, he could say goodbye to his own future.

Gadget swallowed thickly before sitting up and donning his glasses once more. He forced an unbothered expression as a guard walked in front of his window, gesturing at the chair on the opposite side of the glass.

He struggled to save face when Infinite sat down, those heterochromatic eyes automatically finding Gadget's. The urge to fidget was even stronger as that piercing gaze hardened. The guard said something to Infinite, and he simply nodded. A few seconds later, they were left alone.

He had thirty minutes to prove his innocence.

Infinite picked up the phone first, and Gadget followed suit with trembling fingers.

His heart was pounding against his chest at the silence on the other end, the anticipation killing him. Infinite didn't seem to care. He took his time in getting as comfortable as he could in the metal chair, leaning an arm on the table.

Finally, he asked, "Your voice came back yet?"

He was still acting, and Gadget understood. This conversation could be recorded as well. The wolf cleared his throat, dispelling any shakiness. "Uh…yeah. It got stronger after you called this morning. Took some medicine like you said."

"Good." Infinite grunted, a frown growing on his muzzle afterwards. Despite how calm his words were, the simmering anger in his stare let Gadget know that he was already walking on thin ice. The jackal tapped a finger on the table, sighing. "So, what do you think about my little situation here? Probably nothin' good."

"I…" He had to choose his words carefully here. He could do this. "I just never thought that _you_ would resort to something so low." Resorting to his near nonexistent acting skills, Gadget pulled out a weak glare. "You've _killed_ people!"

 _I've killed people._

The thought thundered in his mind, making his breathing stutter. It helped sell his next line. "How c-could you?"

There was a ghost of a smirk on the jackal's face like he was reading his thoughts. It disappeared when Infinite dispassionately shrugged. "It's easy money."

Gadget knew better than that. The pay was nothing but a side benefit. Infinite was in it for power and enjoyment. He'd seen him kill once. The bloodstained smile he wore afterwards haunted Gadget's nightmares.

Infinite didn't let him respond. He continued, "I didn't mean for you to find out about this shit. You're a good friend, trustworthy." There it was. Gadget bit the inside of his cheek when the tapping stopped. "I tried to keep it all secret."

Gadget's pulse pounded in his ears. His grip on the phone tightened. "But you _know_ how stupid and dangerous being a mercenary is! Did…Did you really think that someone wouldn't ever be able to trace your tracks?" The jackal's brow marginally furrowed. Gadget inwardly cheered because he _needed_ the other to understand. "Why would you stoop so low to take such an immoral job with those insanely high risks?"

"The risks _weren't_ high," Infinite retorted, some of the anger in his eyes leaking into his tone. "Until those damn heroes showed up."

"Can you really be surprised? You're a mercenary!" Gadget almost wanted to savor this moment because he hadn't been foolish enough to be this brutally honest in the past. "Isn't Shadow part of the military or something? It makes sense that he was the one to find you."

Infinite narrowed his eyes. "They never cared before."

Oh, how Gadget wished he could scream that he _didn't tip them off._ "Well…there hasn't been any news about Eggman for a while, so now they have time to chase down scum like you."

A claw scraped against the table. Gadget gulped; he had laid it on too thick.

He nervously adjusted his glasses and added, "Shadow is some kind of super-soldier. I wouldn't be surprised if he has an ability to track people down."

Infinite scrutinized him, eyes searching for something that wasn't there. Gadget held his breath as the silence stretched on, hoping that he was in the clear.

The wolf only exhaled when Infinite looked away for the first time, his lips turned down in a scowl. "Just my shitty luck."

Gadget felt relief flood his system when the jackal met his gaze again. There was anger, but it was no longer aimed at him. However, the amount of suspicion there told Gadget that he wasn't completely out of the woods yet. But he had a good start.

Infinite clicked his tongue in irritation. "It was only a matter of time, huh?"

"Yeah." Gadget agreed, absently scratching his arm. "And now you're stuck here where you belong."

There was another almost-smirk. Gadget didn't know what to make of that. The jackal ran a hand down his face for show. "I get you're upset about me fucking up, and that you'll never forgive me."

"Never," he emphasized, voice hushed. Gadget would never forgive him. That jackal made him send so many people to their _deaths_ -

"I deserve that." Infinite's unrepentant words snapped him out of his thoughts. Gadget took another deep breath to steady himself. Infinite watched him and said, "And I feel bad for missing your little cousin's science fair today. Did you make it to that?"

Gadget's head spun from the abrupt topic change, especially because all of his cousins were _older_ than him. And they weren't anywhere near Infinite's field of influence. Gadget was the only unlucky one. "No," he said, not understanding where the jackal was going with this lie. "I…had to miss it in my hurry to get here."

Infinite quirked a brow. "Was I really that important, Wolfy?"

"She…" Chaos, Gadget wished that he had gotten a script for this. He was trying hard to not flounder like a dying fish. "She'll have more."

"Yeah, yeah. That's true. She'll have plenty more after elementary school. It's just that she'd been so excited to show us her…what was it again?" Infinite pretended to think. "An electromagnet, right? One that she made by herself?"

Now, Gadget wasn't stupid. He had gotten a full ride to his dream college for a reason, but _why_ would Infinite want to build an electromagnet? Gadget pictured how unbothered the jackal was when he mentioned his jail sentence, saw how the inmate was patiently waiting now, and…

 _How would an electromagnet make your life in jail any easier?_

But Gadget couldn't ask that, and he couldn't dodge the question either. Infinite knew that he knew how to make a simple one, thanks to his pursuit in engineering.

Looking back now, Gadget wished that he had never become interested in technology in the first place.

The pause didn't go on for too long. He muttered quietly into the phone, "Y-Yeah, it's crazy what she can do with a screw, copper wire, and a battery…" He then raised his voice. "But why do you still care? All you care about is killing people. She and the rest of our friends will stop caring about you once they hear what you've done, if they already haven't."

"Harsh." Infinite didn't even pretend to be offended. He sent a heated glare, a cold chill running down Gadget's spine. "Where in the hell did you buy that backbone, Wolfy? Never had it before."

Lies and reality faded together, and Gadget was unsure of how to react. When he finally opened his mouth, a fist slammed down on the table. He stiffened in his seat as Infinite leaned closer to the window.

The jackal's teeth were bared, his hackles were raised, and Gadget wanted to be _anywhere_ else right now. "I called you here to patch things up, but since you'd rather spit this shit back in my face, we're done here."

Gadget was speechless when Infinite dropped the phone, leaving it clattering against the table. The jackal stood up and walked away without another look. The sound of clanking metal came through on Gadget's end. The guard must be handcuffing him again.

Forcing his rapid heart rate down, Gadget properly replaced the phone and hoped that this was the last time he'd ever have to see that murderer.

With him gone, maybe his life could go back to normal.

Gadget slumped back against his chair and stressfully rubbed his forehead.

 _Now, I have to find a place to sleep…_

* * *

" _We need to talk."_

Those words echoed around Mephiles' head as he stepped into Shadow's apartment. It was crisp and clean, kind of what he expected. It was nothing like Rogue's apartment, where things were strung about.

His attention drifted down to the couch in the middle of the living room, which was actually a futon that should be more comfortable than Sonic's couch.

Hearing the door close behind him, Mephiles wondered what in the world they were going to talk about. Everyone had already apologized earlier today about the voice thing while Rosy played around with the emerald.

He wasn't going to use the gem to give himself a voice despite his friends warming up to it. The reminder would still be there, and thinking about it made his gut churn.

As time had ticked on, the sun lowering in the sky, Shadow had offered up his apartment for him to crash at and uttered those four cryptic words.

Mephiles took the offer because a futon _was_ bigger than a couch, he was curious about what this 'talk' was, and honestly, saying no to Shadow frightened him a bit. They were friends – at least, he thought so – but he was still intimidating when he wanted to be.

Especially when Mephiles had talked for the first time…

"I'll get you a blanket in a moment. But first." Mephy turned around to see Shadow staring him down. He frowned in confusion, even more curious about the topic at hand. Shadow crossed his arms and asked, "Has anything strange happened to you since you woke up from the grave?"

 _Strange? Strange as in what?_ Mephy glanced down at his hands and mouthed, "New powers-"

"Besides them." Shadow pressed, gesturing to Mephiles' now clean fur. "Was the pyramid the first time you've seen that black gunk?"

Mephy had no idea where this was coming from, but maybe his black-out today had stirred up some worry. Mephiles could understand that, considering that he didn't have a clue as to what happened either.

He shook his head in response, recalling when he first woke up. Some of that black stuff had come out of his mouth, but he thought that was just his mind playing tricks on him. Apparently, he'd been wrong.

"At Cream's house when I first woke up." Mephiles mouthed slowly, pointing to the side of his mouth. "Some came out when I coughed."

Shadow frowned. "When you coughed?" he repeated for affirmation, and Mephiles nodded. There was a brief pause; Mephy almost wanted the power to read minds. Shadow then asked, "Has it happened any other time?"

He shook his head. An uneasiness settled in him when the other's frown deepened. Mephiles almost signed as a knee-jerk reaction, but instead he silently questioned, "Is there something wrong with me?"

Something in Shadow's gaze hardened. "I don't know."

Mephiles didn't entirely believe him. Ever since coming back from the base – heck, since he'd come back from being _dead–_ Shadow had been acting off. He just _stared_. There had to be a reason, right?

Oblivious to his thoughts, Shadow continued, "Besides that and the powers, anything else?"

"Not really…no."

"Have you heard any voices?" Mephiles blinked in surprise, completely thrown off by that question. What did he mean by voices? His confusion must've shown in his expression, for Shadow explained, "From what we understand, the emerald taps into the mind of the one using it to carry out its powers. Rosy isn't deaf while holding it because it's manipulating a part of her brain to allow her to hear. Someone imagines an illusion, and the emerald makes the people around see it too."

Mephiles slowly nodded, understanding the information. But what did it have to do with him hearing voices?

Shadow answered that when he took a step forward, his tone steely. "The emerald shouldn't have picked that voice for you unless you've heard it before. Have you?"

Mephy was going to say no, but a thought stopped him. Had he heard it before? Maybe it did sound familiar, but where…

He stiffened when he remembered…remembered _something._ It was in the pyramid, right before he blacked out. He had been panicking while he and Penumbra were surrounded by ghosts. Within his jumbled thoughts, there had been a whisper lost in the whirlwind. He forgot what it said, but it had been there.

Mephiles keenly watched Shadow's reaction when he nodded. "Before the laser."

Shadow attempted to keep his expression controlled, but Mephy didn't miss the way his eyes marginally widened and how tense he became. "What did it say?" His voice was tighter, gruffer.

Mephy dug deep, but he came up with nothing. "I don't remember." Shadow was borderline glaring at him now, _through_ him. He seemed lost in his own head, and Mephiles bit his lip. If Shadow was acting like this, something was wrong. Very wrong.

He chanced a step forward, eyes pleading for Shadow to tell the truth. He had never been normal to begin with, but this was too much. "What's…wrong with me?"

"I already said that I don't _know_ ," Shadow hissed through gritted teeth, and Mephy flinched back at the unexpected anger. Shadow closed his eyes for a moment and took a breath; when they reopened, he was a bit more composed. "But if anything strange happens again, let me know immediately _._ Understand?"

Mephiles wanted to argue against that blatant lie – _he_ was the one being affected, after all – but maybe there was a reason he wasn't telling him? There had to be one that he couldn't think of. Shadow wouldn't keep something to himself without a cause.

Relenting, Mephy nodded once more.

Shadow walked past him. "I'll get you a blanket and some pillows. Make yourself at home." He disappeared down the hallway without another word.

With a long-winded sigh, Mephy went over and plopped down on the futon, letting his muscles relax. He needed to sleep after the craziness of today. He would deal with tomorrow after the sun rose.

That night, Mephiles dreamed of fire.

* * *

When Zero returned to his cell, his cellmate was already pretending to be asleep.

He could see his trembling from here.

Yeah, a rookie criminal _would_ be terrified of rooming with someone who could use a toothpick to take a life.

Luckily for him, Zero wasn't planning on staying in this cell for long.

The jackal rubbed his wrists after he was set free from the cuffs. It was close to lights out, so it was quiet enough for him to hear the guard walk away.

That meeting went well, he would say.

There was no evidence – yet – that Gadget had sabotaged anything, and well, it looked like he didn't need many materials for his plan. If the wolf hadn't been lying to him.

"I know you're awake," he said, and his cellmate cowered more under a thin blanket. Zero didn't pity the human. He deserved to be in here if he got caught for _robbery._ Sloppy.

He walked over and climbed onto the top bunk, flipping over onto his back. Linking his hands under his head, he ordered, "A screw, copper wire, and a battery. Give those to me before noon tomorrow."

That got a response. "H-Huh?" the kid stuttered. Zero heard rustling from below. "W-Where would I-?"

"Not my problem."

"But-"

"If _I_ have to find them, I'll use the screw to make you choke on your own fucking blood."

There was a whimper, and Zero took that as an okay.

It was silent for a few moments before there was another question. "…W-Why do you want 'em?"

He was about to answer, but the sound of distant beeping distracted him. This has happened every night recently, he'd been told. Around this time, the prisoners holed in solitary confinement were led to the showers to be cleaned.

One was a chameleon with a beeping collar.

Zero smirked. "It's for a science experiment."

* * *

 **I'm gonna love writing Zero, I can already tell.**


End file.
